Seattle comes Out...

They sure did...it was a bright, shiny and a freaking HOT Seattle Sunday...and it was the big Pride Parade day...the featured parade in the few weeks of gay pride celebrations hereabouts...

I am not gay(not that there is anything wrong with it...tm J. Seinfeld, lol), and have never made any effort to check out the festivities...I mean I am totally ok with whatever folks do, have gay friends, etc etc...I have just never bothered to do more than notice that traffic is bad during these times!

Well, lately I have been a bit of an image whore, and any good opportunity to capture some colorful life out and about, and I am there! So...lol...needless to say, this event qualified! The previous weekend (see preceding blog) I had shot from within the Fremont Solstice parade...and this was a clear followup opportunity...I love shooting people...from an event/editorial viewpoint...capturing their passion and joy in life...

I have to say, this was very different, this Pride parade, than I expected, and from the preceding weekend...

First, one of the big call outs I would say is just how political it was...and I don't mean, gay rights perspective, though there is that...

I mean, ALL the big local, I think mostly democrat, politicians were out, with their supporters...and legions of Obama supporters...

And kids...lots of kids...definitely a family feel to the thing...

Lot's of official and varied church support...god is love was definitely a theme...

The obvious, drag queens, the Sisters, and super stereotypical gay imagery accompanied much of the displays...and was easiest to capture via photograph...the camera loves the flamboyant...and I have to admit, these folks are who I knew would get captured well in frame, and they did not disappoint...

But, the formality and grandiousness of size of the event also surprised me a bit...

I guess, it was so much in contrast to the free and arty Solstice bit, that the big floats and police escort kind of threw me...and of course, I was just a spectator here, so shot from the sidelines...

The other bit that pleasantly surprised me, were all the locals that came out to stand with me on the sidelines...many totally straight, and many families...just coming out to see a fun parade, and share in the love...

To me that was mostly what this thing was about...it really wasn't all that showy to me...not excessively flamboyant, as compared to the exhibitionist displays from the preceding weekend(though I did recognize a handful of the same folks turn out in the parade:)...it really was about love, acceptance, diversity, and excitement---the political supporters were effusive, even...it was catchy....

So, without further adieu, I suppose, here are my favorite images from the 2 hours I spent in the scorching sun...

The preceding are a subselection(though majority) of the full set I have loaded here:
http://flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157605917942489/

Peace & Love Seattle...

xoxo
~Elisa