The more years I live in Boston, the more soft hearted I feel about July 4th. Like I mentioned in a previous entry, I didn’t even used to celebrate July 4th. I had no feelings about the US. I wasn’t a citizen. It wasn’t my country necessarily. Or so I thought.

Then this weird thing happened. I moved to Boston, started working with international students and turned American. Can’t explain it, but anyway, here we are.

The fireworks. Yeah, so as usual I attended with my gang of 50 people. I do everything in Boston with 50 people, minimum. We got there a couple of hours early, hung out, played cards, listened to the anthem, ate food and generally enjoyed ourselves. Fireworks are much better in a big group, I have to say.

Every year too with the fireworks, I try to photograph them in a different way. Fireworks are fireworks, I guess one could say. Or would say, but shouldn’t say. They really are interesting and unique and I quite enjoy photographing them. One time I saw this 60 minutes piece on these two people named Dereck and Beverly Joubert, who make beautiful films about lions. At one point, they are on their jeep, in Namibia and they’ve got lions on every side of them. The commentator says “so it is safe to say that right now we are surrounded by lions?” Dereck answers yes. And this exactly where they want to be. The commentator asked them at the end “have you ever thought about giving this all up?” Dereck goes “and what? Go and live in New York?” He said this like this was the worst fate that could ever befall a person.

Photographing fireworks I’m not surrounded by lions obviously, but I love it. It is a challenge and you are in the middle of a difficult situation with ever changing conditions. If it isn’t a challenge, then obviously I don’t want to do it.

Anyway, here I go. Surrounded by lions again: