#archivecarnival

[marklyndersay]

Born Roy Lewis, becoming Lutalo Masimba and evolving into Brother Resistance, leader of the rapso movement in the 1980s and the lead singer of the Network Riddim Band, this artist created a space for a generation of young poets who would  find release in an earthy new sound characterised by dense, swirling lyrics. The Network wasn’t welcomed. The police trashed their rehearsal space in 1983 and many of their concerts at City Hall were poorly attended, and I know this because I went to write about the work they were doing there. Later works from Resistance became more introspective and worldly and led to tours and foreign engagements. Since 2011, Masimba has led the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Association, first as acting president and then appointed in two successive elections in 2013 and 2016. This 1991 photograph was shot for SG Magazine, a revamped Sunday Magazine for the Guardian that I did with Dexter Lewis @dexout and Marlon Rouse between 1990 and 1992 (the first issue was on the press during the attempted coup and was never released). As it turns out, I went into the People’s Mall on Frederick Street to photograph Resistance with a whole other plan in mind, but I forgot a component in my gear and the flash wouldn’t work. So I photographed him in a shaft of light lancing through the makeshift roof. Day Six of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #musician #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #rapso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #lutalomasimba #nationalcarnival commission #ncc #music #portofspain #composer #brotherresistance #peoplesmall #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Frederick Street, Port of Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buc9l8bAYFk/?utm_medium=tumblr

[marklyndersay]

Winston Bailey crosses the Savannah stage at Dimanche Gras in the late 1980s.  The Shadow had came some distance from his first appearances at the Savannah, when he would walk to a microphone stand planted dead centre and sing to his audience without moving from the spot, turning from the south to the north to address his audiences, first in the Grandstand then the North Stand. In later years, most notably when he clearly relished his performance of Looking for Horn, he strode confidently from one end of the stage to the other, courting the cheers of the often neglected North Stand audience. He spoke with authority in every word and every gesture to fans of calypso, his love for them returned a hundredfold by Trinbagonians who heard their stories and experiences in his quirky, heartfelt lyrics. He transitioned in October 2018 at 77, weeks before he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies. #archive #lyndersaydigital #calypsonian #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #kaiso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #winstonbailey #shadow #dimanchegras #savannah #stage #performance #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQDQl2gKr4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=u54g8estjpgw

[marklyndersay]

The Red Ants J’Ouvert band enters Kathleen Street from George Cabral Street in St James before dawn on February 23, 2009. Part of my reportage on the operations of Tribe but unused in the final edit, the band, thousands strong, weaves through St James daubed in paint and with bad behaviour on its collective mind. The band isn’t so much a part of Tribe as it is a parallel complement to it and is run by some of the members of Tribe’s management. The street party is the culmination of a series of events that are organised under the brand leading up to J’Ouvert morning. Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #paint #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #paint #morning #party #dawn #tribe #stjames #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at St James) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulaJ7egc0c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=a5t9628ne00o

[marklyndersay]

Chocolate City flows through St Clair heading to Boisierre Village. The band introduced a cocoa mix to the J’Ouvert menu of liquids that you pour all over yourself at dawn on Carnival Monday. I’d planned to do a photo essay about the band for years, but every time I went looking for them after Carnival, they had decamped to a new location. Finally, I got my chance in 2010 when the band set up shop on Ariapita Avenue (find Local Lives via the Shorby link in the profile). I couldn’t seem to impress on anyone the significant of capturing the actual creation of the cocoa mix and it turned out to be the one thing in the band’s preparation that I didn’t get. It’s a problem I face often with photo essay stories, particularly Carnival subjects, who are used to a media focus on certain things they do and are genuinely non-plussed when I show an interest, even insistently, on photographing something they consider unimportant. You never get everything, but to this day I still feel a twinge at that lost opportunity. The band doesn’t encourage its players to actually eat the mix they hand out in squirt bottles, but the smell of the players coming down a street is certainly unique in the festival. One of its more pleasant olfactory experiences. Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #chocolate #notfood #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #cocoamix #carnivaltuesday #maraval #dawn #chocolatecity #woodbrook #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Boissiere Village, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulZ5wWgLMT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7qkc6bl8ztbi

[marklyndersay]

The pannist and arranger, Jit Sukha Samaroo photographed in 1983 for promotional material to accompany a trip by Trinidad All Theatre Productions to Europe, where the group, led by director Helen Camps would perform a more expansive version of J’Ouvert, a Carnival pantomime that the group had produced after the success of King Jab Jab.  Samaroo, notoriously reclusive and disinterested in being photographed, submitted to the session at his Lopinot home during a retreat by the performing company to the rehearsal space of The Samaroo Jets. That band performed in-house at the Trinidad Hilton for many years and Samaroo would go on to be a successful arranger for the Amoco, later BP Renegades Steel Orchestra, registering nine Panorama wins between 1982 and 1997. Samaroo was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) in 1995 and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies in 2003. He died at his home in January 2016. Day Seven of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #panman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #jitsamaroo #musician #steelband #steelpan #lopinot #arranger #steelpan #panorama #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Lopinot) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuffWNCgifr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oyxz5zub8xd8

[marklyndersay]

Photographed as part of the photo essay I did on Phase II in 2013, Hanging out in the House of Music (http://lyndersaydigital.com/ll/no/15.html), part of the Local Lives series (which you can find in the Shorby link in my profile). I’d chosen Phase II because they were the major band that was closest to where I live in St James (so, laziness) but I also hoped to trade on my prior acquaintance with the band’s manager, Errol Skerritt. That got me into consideration, a spot on the agenda as it were and after printing up previous published essays, I got an assent. From the management. The players were a whole other matter entirely, and they did not welcome another photographer loitering around in their yard harvesting images that would, apparently, yield a fortune. So I got cussed. And cussed again. And I kept coming back and photographing anything that wasn’t openly hostile until the pannists came to understand that I wasn’t going to give up. This image captures band arranger Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe wrestling a pan rack into position at Panorama finals. When Sharpe gets to the point of moving pans himself, it’s a sure sign that he’s annoyed at how long it’s taking to move the instruments into place.  The band would win that year, rewarding my laziness and taking home another trophy.  Day Seven of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #panman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #lenboogsiesharpe #musician #steelband #steelpan #queensparksavannah #panrack #steelpan #panorama #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bufe1ytAqVn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wx0ws71i33nw

[marklyndersay]

When I met Drupatee Ramgoonai and her husband, I had no idea what lay ahead for her and for the music she would boost into popularity beyond measure. They arrived quietly carrying hefty tassa drums, which I arranged carefully behind the singer to make photographs for her first album, featuring Mr Bissessar, which defined a new category of soca, one that Shorty had flirted with on his albums but which the Ramgoonais took firmly and authoritatively in a new direction. I confess to later being startled by the…um…vigorous performances that the quiet Mrs Ramgoonai put down on stage, but there was not question of her agency and determination in ignoring naysayers and bringing Indian music and influences more fully into focus in Carnival. This 1988 photo is for her second year sophomore album and it captures a woman considerably more assured and certain of her place in the world and she remains so today, even as younger, sometimes less classy performers follow her considerable lead on stage. #archive #lyndersaydigital #chutney #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #drupatee #drupateeramgoonai #chutney #technology #queensparksavannah #chutneysoca #tassa #drupatee #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BubCeVEAan6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=j7032sl769yv

[marklyndersay]

Peter Minshall among wireframe horse’s heads at the Callalloo company mas camp in Cocorite in 1995. Donkey Derby was the band that Minshall salvaged from the much more expansive designs and construction work he’d embarked on for a design collaboration with the Spanish designer Miralda called The Honeymoon. With the collapse of that project and the pervasive presence of Whoa Donkey! a surprise Carnival hit by the United Sisters, who counted among their number Singing Sandra and Tigress, Minshall went with the flow and created his own sardonic look at T&T society, building a massive papier Machel Trojan Donkey to form the centrepiece of his Savannah presentation. But that was weeks away and I needed an early photo of the masman for the Carnival Souvenir I was working on for the Trinidad Express. I showed up by arrangement one evening, scouted a spot among a collection of wire-frame donkey heads in varying stages of completion and lit the designer so that the background, a messy collection of debris and rehearsing dancers dropped off to black.  He looked up quizzically and I said three words to him, “Alas, poor Yorick.” He got it immediately. Day Three of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage. #archive #lyndersaydigital #masman #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #peterminshall #callalloocompany #bandleader #donkeyderby #hamlet #cocorite #mascamp #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Cocorite, Saint George, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuV7Gingv2s/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=u5dw86chesgy

[marklyndersay]

Peter Minshall may have created other famous Kings of Carnival, he may even have created better Kings of Carnival (I’m looking at you Merry Monarch), but he never created a more singularly influential and watershed design than he did with Mancrab. In 1983, Minshall created Mancrab as King and villain of The River, an ascetically all-white band that he proceeded to drench with electric dyes on the stage. There was before Mancrab and there was after Mancrab. It wasn’t the start of a trilogy when it appeared, but it was a remarkable story, rich with allegory and visual impact, the conflict between technology and a simpler country life distilled into the mechanical attack of the obsidian carapace worn by Peter Samuel and the earthy, ethereal beauty of The Washerwoman, worn by Minshall’s sister, Sherry-Ann Guy. It was ecological disaster as pantomime, that first terrifying squirt of red into the floating white canopy above the costume’s head a morbid warning about tainting the natural with the manmade.  The engineering for the remarkable costume was conversationally attributed to Ellis Chow Lin On, the recording engineer behind KH Records who also participated in the formation of Charlie’s Roots. Day Four of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #masman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #peterminshall #callalloocompany #bandleader #ellischowlinon #queensparksavannah #theriver #trilogy #mancrab #dimanchegras #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYeH7tAs17/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2cfvcefk9i13

[marklyndersay]

Shot for promotional use by Rituals Records in 1998, this photo captures the original line-up of 3 Canal @3CanalTT, a group formed by theatre practitioners and J’ouvert entrepreneurs who had a surprise hit in 1997 with the rapso J’Ouvert anthem, Blue. The group, as individuals, had been drawn to Carnival by the work of Peter Minshall. There friends Roger Roberts and Wendell Manwarren met John Isaacs, Stanton Kewley and artist Steve Ouditt and the idea for the group came up, starting with a J’Ouvert band Jocks-Tuh-Pose. They produced the small band for a few years until 1997 when they had a chance to make a song. Blue caused a sensation, and the J’Ouvert band crossed the line from a little art project into what Manwarren has described as “an experience for an entire generation. Isaacs, who died in 2000 had long advocated that the group refocus on theatre, particularly the earthy, intuitive work that they had experienced in Helen Camps’ Tent Theatre and in the workshops at Minshall's Callalloo company that shaped their stage presentations. The 3 Canal show has been staged annually for the last 15 years, the J’Ouvert presentation is in its 25th year and the band has an expansive discography on streaming and download websites. A Las’ Lap lanyap for Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #theatre #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #3Canal #musician #steelband #rapso #queensparksavannah #3canalshow #jouvert #blue #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BupBXFqgvJ3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qxluf86mc51o

[marklyndersay]

The United Sisters were four female calypsonians who joined together to challenge male dominance of the road march and the party circuit and to unify their efforts to succeed in the industry through mutual support.  From left, they are Marvelous Marva (Marva Joseph), Tigress @tigress1570 (standing, Joanne Rowley), Singing Sandra @singingsandra1 (Sandra Des Vignes) and Lady B (Beulah Bobb), photographed in 1993 at the height of their fame backstage at Kitchener’s tent in Port of Spain. I remember it as being on Henry Street in this era. They were rocking Trinidad and Tobago Carnival with their soca hit Whoa Donkey which gave rise to The Donkey Dance, the notorious “Reverse Donkey” and directly influenced Minshall’s decision to resurrect the Donkey Derby band from the ashes of The Wedding. By then, the group had placed second in the Caribbean Song Festival with Ambataila Woman. In the late 90’s Tigress migrated to the United States and Lady B died in September 2001. A Las’ Lap lanyap for Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #theatre #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #3Canal #musician #steelband #rapso #queensparksavannah #3canalshow #jouvert #blue #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BupBA0wgY_J/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17ew4kwqcxwju

[marklyndersay]

Bryan Tico Skinner and Associates provide one of the great delights of Carnival, a J’Ouvert band that hit the streets on Carnival Tuesday. These masqueraders (paintsqueraders?) refresh their look on Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook in 2007. These are not the fierce devils of the Paramin mountain top, with their aggressive chants, fire breathing and determined confrontation with their audience. Skinner’s devils were the playful imps of the festival, their perennial jabs of sarcasm and irony a reminder of the fundamental silliness of our daily costumes, their buckets of grease and paint an invitation to shed our skins and laugh at society or at least smear it with a wicked grin. The band offered a sense of humor that’s largely disappeared from the festival, with portrayals condemning various aspects of society ripe for lampooning to the various Hells that were the theme of the year’s presentation. In 1996, the band underlined the results of a hastily called election with their presentation, Snap Election is Hell. “I play current affairs, things that are bad,” he told the TT Guardian in 2005. “You do something wrong, you are a devil…it finish there." Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #bluedevils #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #paint #carnivaltuesday #commentary #dawn #grease #woodbrook #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at The Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulYdkogSI-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=psqasc89e5v

[marklyndersay]

Edmond and Lil Hart at their Alfredo Street mas camp in 1987, photographed while the couple as they prepared their band, Local Sights and Delights. The couple originally from San Fernando began in Carnival in 1960 and won band of the year titles in 1966, 1070, 1983, 1986 and 1988. The band was famous for reorienting the seriousness of the masquerade to produce what they described as a "fun band,” introducing many of the customer-centric adaptations to fielding a Carnival band that today define the festival, including rolling refreshments and synchronized DJ music to support a large group of masqueraders. The couple’s children, Louis, Gerald, Thais, Aixa and Karen continued the band’s approach when they took over as Harts, The Next Generation in 1993. Lil Hart died in 1991. Edmond passed on in 2019 #archive #lyndersaydigital #masmaker #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #costume #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #edmondhart #lilhart #mascamp #woodbrook #design #funband #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Woodbrook, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuiMRddA-DL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=w45bitc75vkx

[marklyndersay]

Wayne Berkeley photographed at his mas camp on Cipriani Boulevard. This building is now gone, demolished to make way for the new construction that now houses Ruby Tuesday there. Shot in the late 1980’s for Therese Mills’ Sunday Guardian Magazine, I was struck by how staggering the level of organisation was in Berkeley’s camp. There was no buzz of last minute activity in the weeks leading up to Carnival. Almost all of the costumes were done, neatly organised and sorted for collection and the photo sought to capture something of the tremendous effort behind that and to place Berkeley at the centre of this determined order in the midst of Carnival’s chaos. Berkeley died in June 2011, a year after producing his last queen, Eve, for the band of Catholic laypersons organized under the name Genesis 1 Creation. That story is part of the Local Lives series (see Shorby link in profile).  #archive #lyndersaydigital #masman #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #wayneberkeley #costume #kingofcarnival #queenofcarnival #bandleader #mascamp #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Woodbrook, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuiL345ACZB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ntrxbafn27k2

[marklyndersay]

Jomo Wahtuse with his signature instrument, the Jomoline at his home and workshop. The GPan was an attempt to create a distinctive iteration of the steelband, one on which a copyright/patent claim might be made and to solve the problem of vibration bleed, in which one note on the pan’s surface affects the clarity of the one next to it. But the problem had been tackled earlier, almost four decades years earlier in fact with Jomo Wahtuse’s Jomoline, verified by the Guiness Book of Records as the largest steelpan in the world at three feet, four inches in diameter. Wahtuse also created the Xylopan, a soprano pan surrounded by eight satellite pans capable of making 50 discrete notes available to the accomplished pannist, or Ursula, from the Little Mermaid. Day Seven of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #panman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #jomowahtuse #musician #steelband #steelpan #inventor #steelpan #panorama #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit https://www.instagram.com/p/BuffFeQgPZo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9nd3xpx42ck2

[marklyndersay]

Colin Lucas is my cousin, the second relative of mine to serve in a senior position at the National Carnival Commission (the other is Alfred Aguiton) . First hired as Chairman of the NCC in 2017, he was retasked as CEO in April 2018. He is also the creator of one of the most popular soca songs of all time, Dollar Wine. This photograph was done in 1991 the year that hit laid waste to fetes all over Trinidad and Tobago. It’s probably appalling to have to note this, but despite decades of service at the Port Authority, COTT and other businesses, he will forever be known for singing, “cent, five cents, ten cents, dollar.” The headline of the photo was the one I am still most proud of, encapsulating the reality that Lucas had huffily left Sound Revolution, the band he had been associated with for decades to join Robin Imamshah’s Taxi. My headline? “Vex money: He saved a dollar for Taxi.”  I am bowing here.  Future Chief Photographer of the TT Guardian, Brian Ng Fatt, helped me on the shoot by tossing the notes at Lucas until the photo came together Day Six of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #musician #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #soca #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #colinlucas #nationalcarnival commission #ncc #music #woodbrook #composer #taxi #robinimamshah #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buc9-7VgeFn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1p7i5nt3888de