Day of the Dead Makeup

This week’s question assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is What Are Your Halloween Traditions? We have a bunch! The activities that involve the kids are my favorite like planning a Halloween dinner party, trick-or-treating, attending the school Halloween pageant and decorating the house. But, every year for the past few years we’ve attended the annual Halloween Parade in Oklahoma City. It’s always a lot of fun for the kids even if it can get little creepy.

Oklahoma City Roller Derby Girls in Day-of-the-Day

Here are a few of the pictures I took this year. I love shooting this parade because it takes place during the early evening and I get the best light of day.

For the third year in a row, the best parade subjects have been the women of the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls Roller Derby. They are always in character and exude a self-confidence that makes a photographer’s job easy.

This year they carried out a Day-of-the-Dead theme, which contrary to what some people think, has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween. They are closely linked, however, because of their close proximity to one another on the calendar. Halloween is October 31, and Day of the Dead is November 2.

Day of the Dead Flower Wreath

The combination of setting sunlight and autumn trees creates an interesting composition when paired with this Roller Derby girl’s flowers and makeup.

From Frances Bellerby’s All Souls’ Day

…Ah, but you were always leaf-light.
And you so seldom talk
as we go. But there at my side
through the bright leaves you walk.

Day of the Dead Face Makeup

From Woman with the Somber Gaze by the Spanish poet Julie Sopetran, 1995
….Twice as much the pain, 
twice as much the loss,
the flowers have become the rivers
and the fragrance cries out.

For thousands of years, Mexicans have celebrated Dia de los Muertos Day or Day of the Dead and in so doing rejoiced in the lives of those they’ve loved and lost.  It’s a time marked by reminiscing and brightly-colored decorations.

Araceli Cruz wrote a great piece about it yesterday for ABC News, Intrigued by Day of the Dead? What You Need to Know and Where to Celebrate.  

Excerpt from Pablo Neruda’s Soneto de la Noche:

Day of the Dead Geishas | Día de Muertos

…I want all that I love to keep on living,
and you whom I loved and sang above all things
to keep flowering into full bloom.

So that you can touch all that my love provides you,
so that my shadow may pass over your hair,
so that all may know the reason for my song.

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