Clay Rodriguez photographs revellers at the Feast of San Gennaro

Date
11 October 2016

The feast of San Gennaro is a one day religious festival that occurs in Little Italy, New York each September. Photographer Clay Rodriguez photographed the people celebrating as they walked the streets dining on the food from the stalls that are set up on Mulberry Street. “I stumbled across the feast as I was walking around in Chinatown and asked someone what was being celebrated,” says Clay. “After I learned of the details I began to walk through and I noticed a lot of people eat larges pieces of food while they were walking. I also noticed many people stopping crowd traffic so that they could take a bite of food. Overall, the feast seemed to be a fun, but chaotic environment. With heavy crowds, people sometimes miserably moving in all different directions and many people being hypnotised by their food (including me), it was pretty much a photographer’s playground.“

The images show people young and old munching inelegantly on various grilled foods in sometimes unflattering shots. Shot with a bright flash and composed quickly, with a sense of urgency, the series of images captures people eating in a way that sits in stark contrast with more staged and refined images of fine dining or carefully constructed food photography. “I became growingly interested in taking pictures of people up close as they were biting into their food without seeming malicious or negative,” explains Clay. “I also took many pictures aside from portraits to try to capture the atmosphere of the feast.”

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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Clay Rodriguez: The Feast of San Gennaro

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About the Author

Owen Pritchard

Owen joined It’s Nice That as Editor in November of 2015 leading and overseeing all editorial content across online, print and the events programme, before leaving in early 2018.

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