Ronald Reagan Bldg -- Exhibit: Vietnamese Traditional Water Puppets:
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Description of Pictures: Sign at the exhibit:
Traditional Water Puppets
Water puppetry is a unique cultural creation that originated from the wet rice cultivation region in the Red River Delta.
Using water as a flat form for the performs to perform on is an original feature of water puppet art. The water is an excellent medium for the puppetry as it makes the performances seem more sparkling, graceful as well as magical. Water seems to contain all of the mystery of the performance and the puppet characters appear and disappear suddenly with their shadows flickering in the rippling water. In addition, the sound of the drum beats and firecrackers seem to be smoother and more pleasing to the era when reflecting off the water.
Water puppetry is an everyday village art, a mystical creation from each district, each house as well as each artisan. Water puppetry tells stories of social and cultural activities and also tells about famous people throughout the country's history. Water puppet performances describe day to day life in Vietnam simply but amazingly. There is a rural theme throughout the sketches and stories and they always have a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. There are stories full of humor or stories about farming and fishing or of festival and buffalo fights. Some even tell of raising silk works and the silk industry. Popular Vietnamese opera, boat racing, performing lions and horse racing are also common. Besides village life, the stories also tell of legends and the history of the country through the lively water puppets [sic] performances.
For over a thousand years, farmers have been creating water puppetry and have carried the art on till this day. Familiar with water in their everyday lives, even before they were born, gives them enormous pleasure when they perform their puppetry. The top artists in water puppetry are the older people who used to farm or fish but who in their later years dedicate themselves to the art they love and are proud of. Since water puppets ...More...
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2007 photos: Equipment this year: I used the Fuji S9000 almost exclusively except for the period when it broke and I had to send it back for repairs. In August, I bought a Canon Rebel Xti, my first digital SLR (vs regular digital) which I tried as well but I wasn't that excited by it.
Trips this year: Two weeks down south (including Graceland, Shiloh, VIcksburg, and New Orleans), a week at a time share in Costa Rica over my 50th birthday, a week off for a family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with sidetrips to Dayton, Springfield, and Madison), a week in San Diego for the Comic-Con with a side trip to Michigan for two family reunions, a drive up to Niagara Falls, a couple of weekend jaunts including the Civil War Preservation Trust Grand Review in Vicksburg, and a December journey to three state capitols (Richmond, Raleigh, and Columbia). I saw sites in 18 states and 3 other countries this year -- the first year I'd been to more than two other countries since we lived in Venezuela when I was a little toddler.
Ego strokes: A photo that I took at the National Archives was used as the author photo on the book jacket for David A. Nichols' "A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution." I became a volunteer photographer at both Sixth and I Historic Synagogue and the Civil War Preservation Trust (later renamed "Civil War Trust")..
Number of photos taken this year: 225,000.