Fells Point

This is the first time in recent memory that I've been to Fell's Point and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The environment was very different from that of Pigtown. In the same vain, the murals no longer espoused the anonymity that they did in Pigtown. Instead, I saw many murals that were simply advertisements or a way to lure potential customers into shops and restaurants. In order to take a picture of one such mural, I had to set up the photo frame in such a way that a pedestrian stood at the center. I did not do this inadvertently, in fact it was very much on purpose. What is clear, however, from the women's rude remarks-- "Take as many [pictures] as you want, bitch"-- is that she somehow thought that I had set up my photo frame to include her because of who she was (either a hooker, cross dresser, or homeless-- in all seriousness I don't know). I walked away when she starting yelling at me (perhaps, as I would like to believe, for my father's sake), but would have really liked to say GET OVER YOURSELF. In all honesty I didn't-- and don't-- give a damn who she is; I simply do not care. I personally think she psyched herself out to make herself believe that the slightest bit of attention has to be directed at her because she's different, when in reality people have there own lives to be worried about and don't always care about those of others.
Here she is:

It's funny how much controversy can surround the simple act of taking a photo. On numerous occasions in India, I had a person tell me I was not authorized to take a photo. Or better yet street beggars want there photo to be taken only to tell you afterward that they wanted a fee or more humbling, they simply want to see a (stress on the singular, meant to imply first and only) photo of themselves. I vividly remember one such scene when my host family took me out to a bar. I took a picture of a man having birthday cake smashed into his face (a common, if strange, occurrence in India), only to be told by a member of the man's entourage to either hand over the camera or delete all the pictures because apparently it's illegal to take a picture of a government employee. I wonder, does the Indian government fear that someone might actually catch one of their employee's being human and having cake smashed into his face? Or maybe they just airing on the side of safety (because, you know, it never happens. cough, cough) and assuming that their employees are in the wrong most of the time and committing some type of felony. Either way, I think I saw both while I was there:



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Two murals were not painted on the actual wall that they were resting on. Instead, the murals had been hung up like a painting.

Even though the mural is registered withthe Office for the Promotion of the Arts, it's still on the same wall as a Bank of America ATM. I wonder, was this just a way to lure in the customers?