Ivana Kupala, 7 July 2012

A good Kupala night to everyone marking it.

Almost nothing about this holiday has changed in the years I have watched it, with one exception: the photographs. A wreath is now floated, watched, interpreted and then photographed from four angles by everyone present.

I have heard people complain about this. I am not sure they should. The interpretation was always a social act performed for an audience, and the audience has simply got larger and now includes people who are not at the river.

The wreath does not mind. It floats the same way.

A good night to you, and dry clothes afterwards.