Double exposure, split-grade filter diffusion print

Technique described under "details" tab.

Lex, I think this is a successful double exposure. The image of the boy in the foreground looks as if he's up to his chin in water, as in perhaps a baptism. The back ground skateboarding more innocent and childlike. A young man on the cusp of growing into the adult world of city life and police cars. 

I like it.

Amy

Thanks, Amy.  It is one of those ambiguous images that's open to interpretation.  If I'm recalling correctly this was taken on MLK day.  Mostly I was surprised by how low the attendance was, especially on such a nice day.  Most of the small crowd were way down the street.  And the parade groups were widely spaced out.  I do remember the school marching bands were terrific -- that crazy drumline.

I probably intended to get separate photos of the nearest fellow watching for the next marching band group; and another of the fellow on the skateboard.  But this was my first roll through the Rolleiflex and I was so busy piddling with the controls my timing was off.  This was the only frame I was happy with, and it was -- in Bob Ross terms -- a happy accident.

But your impressions are perfectly valid too.  Downtown Foat Wuth tends to be very upscale now, more so over the 10 years since I took this photo.  There isn't much serious political activism and what there is tends to be sparsely attended, whether it's relative to race, civil liberties, decriminalizing marijuana or anything that doesn't involve sports. Of the non-mainstream and non-white demographic events, only Cinco de Mayo seems to draw much of a crowd, and it's pretty diverse too.  On the one hand, I like Fort Worth for the laid back and generally friendly vibe almost everywhere.  On the other hand, we tend to be pretty complacent.  In the absence of constructive, positive and cultural activism, a certain amount of stiff-neckedness has begun to set in.  A healthy community needs a firm body, about like a dish of sticky jasmine rice, a plate of fried catfish, or a bowl of jello, but not like a decade old tough hunk of jerky at a truck stop cash register.