People of England: Live Statue

 

"Every human being has within him an ideal man, just as every piece of marble contains in a rough state a statue as beautiful as the one that Praxiteles the Greek made of the god Apollo." (Jose Marti) Live statues have gained popularity over the past few years. Now, you can hardly go to any major city or tourist spot without seeing a performer suiting up as a live statues. It takes great discipline to be able to calmly hold one position for extensive amounts of time. I particularly loved this performer - he was incredibly unique compared to any others I've ever seen. The process he went through to step into character was detailed - we were lucky enough to catch him from the beginning and see the final pose. At first, it's almost a trick of the eye, to comprehend how he balances at such an angle, but what is unseen is a metal rod which supports his weight running up his pant leg.