Looks Like Something Is Wrong

(or maybe: What I'm doing here?!)

This shot I would like to be the entry to this round of the contest, please.
The upper photo a little girl standing in the middle of her carnival bell-carriers group from Žejane or Žejanski zvončari is one of the best I've made during the Bell-Carrier Gathering Parade in Matulji, Croatia approximately 2 weeks ago. I really looks like something is wrong there or that she's wondering what is she doing there with all these people in the first place or my mind associates this image with some images of my childhood's memories. This girl is growing up in the very similar conditions as I was, surrounded with very similar people, customs & in the same area. Of course, nothing is completely the same cause everything is changing but some traditions hardly change.

In the previous blog posts about the carnival in Croatia in 2023, I was using color photos & was really wondering how would they look in b'n'w version so I decided to try them out for this challenge & I am really amazed by the results. In the color version, here would be so many colors cause the uniforms of the bell-carriers are mostly very colorful but gives the b'n'w versions more value cause there is a wider range of grey in all of these.

This group of bell-carriers have one of the most beautiful flag & they are also led by the flag-carrier & the kids with their captain.

Žejanski zvončari have the very unique & characteristic decorations in their colorful hats - naked women cut out from Playboy or some other erotic magazine. This is probably also symbolically connected with the fertility & awaking the new life cycle & inviting the springtime. But in the next few days I will research it more & make a blog about this group with color photos.

The grown-ups have their own captain. They are in the back, coming last & they follow the kids, musicians & women. It really looks like an army of ancient warriors.

The kids don't have the images of naked girls yet in their hats.

The uniform is very unique. On the hats there are these Sun look-a-like circles, like mandalas. The hat is decorated with the images of naked girls from aside & with the long, colorful paper tapes which stretch all the way down to the floor. Under these tapes the smaller bells are attached. The members of this group never clash to each other with bells. They make small jumps in short frequencies while they walk or standing on one place, making a penetrating sound.

This is my entry to #monomad challenge. Thanks @monochromes for keeping up this great photo challenge! Even thou I would prefer you take the 1st shot as the entry, I like the others too. So, you can choose any of the photos from this post as an entry to the contest.

All the upper shots I made with Nikon D800 & Sigma 105 mm 1:2.8 DG Macro HSM lens & for the self-portrait below I used the same camera but different lens - Nikon AF Nikkor 35-70 mm.

In the next few days I will be publishing photos from other bell-carrier groups cause all of them have a different uniform which is really interesting to see.

Previous posts:

• 1st post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-bell-carriers-from-bregi
• 2nd post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-from-vukojevci-and-sovinjak
• 3rd post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-from-frlanija

In this article, which I published 5 years ago, I explained in details the Croatian Carnival traditions & my personal engagement in it: https://steemit.com/culturevulture/@careassaktart/carnival-festival-in-croatia

In the next few videos which I've recorded, edited & published, you can see few traditional bell-carriers activities during the carnival time:

Bell-Carriers from Zvoneće coming to Mučići