The second week of July is, perhaps, my most favorite time of year. It’s hot, the sun doesn’t set until 9pm, and sleeping becomes a waste of time. It is also the week when I can walk 5 minutes down the street and arrive at a classic carnival, equipped with some not-so-safe-looking rides, pushy carnies, Richie’s slush, and homemade gnocchi. Because, above all else, the annual St. Mary of Carmen Festa is Italian. Well, Nonantum Italian, which includes a colorful history of travelling with gypsies in Europe. If you’ve never been referred to as mush, you’ve probably never thought to attend. Pellegrini park in Nonantum may be the one place in America where the passage of time has no effect. And I’m happy to call it home.
Bay State Roadrunner 
Really unsure as to how you achieve such impossibly shallow DOF. Is it done optically, or in post? I don’t know what you shot with here, if it was with a Holga (vignetting), or post effects.
All the shots were done wide open at f1.4 which helped, but, admittedly I did a lot of post processing (including vignetting) with these photos to give them an old carnival feel. The more natural versions are on my Flikr.
Great pics, thanks for being apart of our tradition! We have been trying for a number of years to break a long standing assumption about the Festival and show that it is a great Family event. Which I think this year has shown it to be! Chuck Proia Festival Chairman
Thank you so much! I only hope I did it justice. It was great this year, and I especially enjoyed the Charlie Noble Band.
We would love to put these photos on our website, would you allow us too? They are beautiful, and a perfect example of the week and the Festa overall!
For this, most certainly!!!!