Clay People
I saw several naked bodies walking along a beach on Martha’s Vineyard; the year was 1979. They were painted light grey with what turned out to be clay from dunes from an adjacent beach. I followed them back and discovered more bathers in the process of covering themselves with the earthy-toned clay deposited in the dunes. I had my Diana camera with me and began to click away. The Diana is a plastic medium-format camera, prone to light leaks, with a low-quality plastic lens that renders impressionistic images. It cost $1.65 at that time and is now a collector’s item, bringing prices that hover around $50.
I heard this clay-painting ritual was terminated sometime in the 1980s as it was indeed endangering the fragile land.
/