Banana Split

16x20 inch Black & White print on Epson Art Cotton Smooth 250 gram paper. From the NYC Village Halloween Parade, 1982–86.

A trio of masqueraders sits nestled together in a giant banana split costume, another imaginative large-scale work by designer Robert Tabor at the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Captured from a second-story window at 59 West Tenth Street between 1982 and 1986, the high-angle perspective looks down on the bulbous scoops of "ice cream" complete with whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries on top. The 135mm lens on an analog Pentax compresses the scene, bringing the textured details of the fabric sundae into sharp focus while blurring the onlookers gathered at street level. This black-and-white shot on Tri-X film uses a powerful professional strobe light to cut through the NYC night, illuminating the trio as they "float" down the parade route in their oversized dessert boat. The high-contrast, grainy aesthetic perfectly preserves the playful and creative energy of this mid-80s New York City tradition.