Paint Guy

J’Ouvert, Crown Heights

This festival is buried in Crown Heights. Everybody tells you something different and so I wound up missing the sunrise start, which was okay to be honest…..the neighborhood is block by block, and early in the morning was out of my comfort zone, so a 9 am foray was perfect for me. This section of Nostrand Avenue was my first visit and today the streets were covered in paint and oil, as were many of the people present. I didn’t feel unwelcome….one guy objected to me photographing him, and it was apparent that it was his personal feeling about me that drove his distaste. Interactions like this always flatten my mood, and this one did, but only briefly. Because this day, Monday September 4, 2017 was about one thing: fun. Pure fun for adults on one day at summer’s close.

This guy noticed me photographing him and he was in the middle of the paint and oil intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Empire Boulevard.