This week I remembered a photo I’d taken many years ago – in the early 90s – of my son Rafi as a toddler. He was dressed as Robin, Batman’s sidekick. I’d projected a slide on the wall as a backdrop and Rafi had punched out some moves in the foreground. I managed to find the image and scanned it. Here it is:
On a wall in Bloomsbury I’d photographed some torn images back in 2012 – they looked like vintage representations of Batman and were presented in elaborate gold frames. These images are a bit of a mystery to me; I’m not sure if they were adverts, street art or graffiti – there was no clue or signature:
I also like the impressive moustache which was absent in the smooth-faced Adam West; the TV version of Batman that I grew up watching.
More recently I’d come across this surreal sight – Batman in Hampstead Heath:
I think things seem more surreal when they are out of context; one expects to come across adults in fancy dress costumes on occasions such as Halloween and at Carnival but not on your average day. Unless you’re in Castro in San Francisco on a sunny June day – perfect for airing that Wonder Woman outfit!
Here’s another iconic comic heroine featured in some street art seen in Brighton. The foreground is an image of the young Jane Fonda as Barbarella, a fictional astronaut from the 41st century, from the 1968 science fiction film directed by Roger Vadim:
