Après-Midi Recap

“We the Spirits – 15 years of traditional Carnival and winter masquerade in 15 countries”

We had an SRO crowd that didn’t mind being wedged in to fit! I failed to take photos of the crowd in its entirety, but managed to photograph just about everyone in small groups. The room filled up even before 3 p.m., the official start time, so we were able to get a head start and Jason was ready to take the helm and make his presentation.

Jason showed a healthy smattering of photos from his two books of carnivals from all over the world. What he has been able to document is fascinating and like nothing else any other photographer has accomplished, as he has spent 15 years ferreting out some of the most obscure festivals—most of which we’ve never even heard of. What is most fascinating is the similarities between the festivals, their costuming and rituals, in spite of their locations being thousands of miles apart. Some of them you can see on his website.

After going through the images and explaining the stories behind them, he ran a video of some of the carnival activities, highlighting the participants whose portraits are in his books. Fascinated by all of it, I really wanted to see more!

About Jason Gardner

Jason Gardner tells stories, using photography and video within the framework of Visual Anthropology. He is passionate about music, culture, and ritual, and how they impact human expression.

For over 15 years, throughout 15 countries, Jason has visually documented the ritual and festival of Carnival, focusing on traditional, folkloric, and community celebrations. A selection of photographs and writing has been published as We the Spirits, GOST Books, UK (2024). In 2013, Jason published A Flower in the Mouth, a photobook about the culture, music and rituals of Carnaval in Pernambuco, Brazil (Visual Anthropology Press, USA).

In 2022, his project was selected as a Top 50 portfolio by Photolucida’s Critical Mass, and GEO Magazine France published a ten-page portfolio of his work. His photography has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Lenscratch, Financial Times, Sunday Times Magazine (UK), This is Colossal, Rolling Stone, Le Parisien, Foto Magazin (Germany), New York Magazine, NPR.org, and SPIN Magazine.

He is a board member at-large, NY Chapter, of The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), and co-founder of creative networking community Toasted Almonds, having launched a Paris chapter of Toasted Almonds (Amandes Grillées).

Jason divides his time between New York and Paris.

Watch the video of the entire presentation.