The crowd, with their beeswax tapers. I had one too, which meant I was a constant danger to myself and those around me, as every time I changed my camera orientation, I risked hitting something. Luckily, I was standing on a chair in the ‘Respected Guests’ section at this point.
A group of priests in traditional ceremonial garb, with the colorful parasols favored by the church.
Debtoras (deacons) are responsible for the liturgical dance portion of Ethiopian religious celebrations (along with the choir). You can see them holding two of the traditional liturgical musical instruments, the prayer staff (used for leaning on during 4+ hour Masses), thumped on the ground, and cistra, a type of rattle.
I think it speaks for itself.
The grand building in the distance is the Sheraton Addis, one of the most deluxe hotels in all of Africa–a study in contrasts, no?
A view of Addis, near the Piazza.
From the aircraft window, descending into the airport.
Spent the day in Mainz, visiting the Gutenberg museum and touring the old downtown. Not as photographically productive as yesterday, but thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. There are a lot of different directions that seemed like they might work for this image, so this is just a starting interpretation–hopefully my processing will get a chance to mature as I get more time with the image.
On an unrelated note, I was struck while walking around Mainz by the amount of advertising in English which is obviously targeted towards the local audience. Concert announcements, shop signs, and full-size ads spoke to the high level of bilingualism in Germany. In fact, it is hard to get anyone to gontinue a conversation with me. It is not that my German is so terrible, but anytime I pause or stumble, conversants immediately switch over to English to continue.