In mid-December, the mass congregation of costumed participants reshapes Manhattan’s social geography, creating temporary zones where conventional behavior yields to carnival atmosphere. This series examines how public spaces become theaters of performed identity, where the familiar iconography of holiday celebration intertwines with acts of social transgression.
The project interrogates the evolution of folk traditions in contemporary urban life. As participants don identical costumes, they simultaneously embrace uniformity while pursuing individualistic revelry. This tension manifests in the ways celebrants claim city streets and establishments, transforming regulated spaces into arenas of spontaneous performance. Their actions challenge established norms of public conduct, revealing how shared rituals can both unite and divide urban communities.
These images illuminate questions about modern communal celebration and social control. The transformation of an anti-consumerist movement into a commercialized spectacle mirrors broader patterns of cultural absorption and resistance. By capturing this phenomenon, the work examines how public gathering spaces become sites where identity, authority, and community are continuously negotiated through collective action.
