An ill-assorted trio perform a public demonstration of pasta eating technique on the streets of Naples. Two barefoot street urchins and an adult male of cheerfully wayward disposition comprise the team of experts, posing on well worn flagstones in front of a somewhat improvised display of food preparation apparatus. An impressively diverse gallery of spectators muscle their way in from the left, the head of a feral child prominent among them. The presiding chefs lurk in the shadows while mellow afternoon sunlight slants across the scene. This is local colour at its most eccentric. It’s a carefree and animated scene presented for the delight of passing strangers but it also exemplifies the smile on the face of poverty that exists to ease the conscience of the economically privileged traveller.
No comments:
Post a Comment