Before I created this blog post, I took time organizing my thoughts to shape the narrative for the photos I captured during the 2018 Key West Fantasy Festival. I was ambivalent because none of the images represent any form of wildlife, wilderness landscapes or US National Parks.
Since I began my nomadic travels around the US, I have captured photographs of the natural essence of the National Parks, Monuments, landmarks along with some hiking and mountain biking locations. Uniquely all of those locations I visited were filled with natures sounds of silence.
So, my time in Key West during the Fantasy Fest was at times overwhelming with the volume of people, cars, traffic, and the noise.
Oh yes, the noise was such a drastic change from the solitude sounds of Yellowstone, Crater Lake, or the deserts of the southwest.
Now, let’s be honest. The 2018 Key West Fantasy Festival is pure Americana at its best with hundreds of thousands of scantily clad people, dressed in imaginable and unimaginable costumes.
The theme for this years event was board games, you know like Monopoly and Scrabble. Lots of people wore costumes with their vision of board games while others indulgently displayed their endless imagination of the human mind.
I was impressed with the jovial happiness of all the participants who wanted their photos taken while displaying their sexuality, or sexual fetishes for all to see.
With so much sexuality on display, I was not surprised to see a religious organization with a megaphone reciting religious passages to the crowds who merely ignored their words of wisdom.
So, if you get the opportunity to express your imagination with a costume by all means visit Key West during fantasy fest, as I may be photographing the colorful landscapes and human wildlife. 🙂