The Commerce St. Gallery Presents "Farewell to the Flesh" June 15, 2012

The Commerce St. Gallery
Presents
"Farewell to the Flesh"
A Technicolor Journey Into the Heart of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
Photographs by Ray Traboulay
June 15 - July 30, 2012
www.CommerceStGallery.com
The Exhibit
The island nation of Trinidad & Tobago provided photographer Ray Traboulay an ideal canvas of rich cultural diversity represented in the Carnival celebration. He has captured their unique Carnival in a style that has been described as a hybrid of Eccentric Studio Portraiture and a Photo Documentary on Trinidadian Cultural Anthropology. The photographs were shot live on the streets of Trinidad and Tobago

Carnival in Trinidad & Tobago is known all around the world as “THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH” and brings together nearly all aspects of their unique cultural identity – music, language, religion, folk-lore, traditions, humor, political satire and more. It blends and weaves all these aspects in an out-of-this-world, electric, Technicolor spirit-filled blitz of street theater, music, and dance.
The exhibit takes its name from the translation of Carnival, originally "Carnevale," literally a “Farewell to the Flesh,” a celebration before the fasting of Lent began by European Catholics. Drawing on ancient Roman traditions, they developed festivals of wearing masks and elaborate costumes and attending fancy balls. These festivals were gradually adopted by slaves and other populations who incorporated their own traditions. Their costumes came from their own rituals and folklore. Some of the costumes seen in these photographs can take up to an entire year to create. They incorporate face paint, steel, mud, beads, glitter, feathers, paper mache, fabric, wire and more.
For this specific series and body of work, the focus is on intimate street portraits of the Traditional Carnival characters such as “The Moko Jumbies / Stilt Walkers”, Blue Devil, Jab Jabs, and “Fancy Indians” which are slowly fading away year after year. There is also a representation of elements of Carnival which have more cultural and historical significance to the origins and roots of this festival compared to the more popular and present day version.
The objective was to capture the emotional, physical and spiritual electricity and energy of street theater with a good cross section of costumes depicting cultural variety, designs, traditions and folklore that inhabit and have inhabited the island nation.
Ray Traboulay
Growing up internationally in over four continents, photographer Ray Traboulay has experienced first-hand a diversity of cultures and lifestyles from the rich culture of France to the jungles of Indonesia. His days in France infused a profound respect for the highly polished lighting aesthetics found in European fashion magazines, books, and editorials. His time in Indonesia and South East Asia, however, left him with an innate thirst for cultural anthropology and this experience of living in both of these places for long periods of time influenced his approach to photography with a passion for vivid aesthetic representation of eclectic culture.
Although Ray's parents were from Trinidad, and he had visited relatives numerous times, he had never learned about Trinidad, or the history and culture that were in his roots. Photographing Carnival, with a focus on the traditional characters at the root of these expressive costumes rather than simply glittering celebration gave him the opportunity to explore his heritage through his art.

Since completing his Bachelors Of Fine Arts with a Major in Photography from Ryerson University School of Image Arts in Toronto Canada, he has worked on varied projects covering Conceptual, Fashion, Portraiture, and Advertising. He has exhibited at the CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto, Canada and the House of Blues, Houston.

Reception and Exhibit Opening
Friday, June 15, 2012
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

The Commerce St. Gallery is located at 1701 Commerce St. above LoLa Coffee near Minute Maid Park and is open Monday - Friday, 10:00 AM - 3:00 Pm or by appointment. To arrange interviews, request additional images or Photographers interested in showing their works contact:
John Zotos
713.229.0094
zotozulu@mac.com