Quick Take
Pacific Avenue became a parade of creatures, characters and wonderfully creative costumes on Halloween night. Photographer Jana Marcus returned for her sixth year of capturing the revelry, finding plenty of homemade ingenuity, good-natured mischief and Santa Cruz at its most delightfully outrageous.
Halloween night on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz becomes a wild parade of fantasy, fright and fabulous self-expression. This was my sixth year setting up my lights and camera amid the merriment, and once again, Santa Cruz did not disappoint. The streets were alive with costumed revelers, plenty of good-natured shenanigans and, noticeably, more wonderfully imaginative homemade costumes than last year.
Part of the fun is never knowing who or what will wander in front of my camera next. Some costumes were elaborate works of art, others were hilariously clever, and a few defied explanation altogether. But everyone seemed to be having a marvelous time, and the enthusiasm was contagious.
A special thanks to everyone who let me photograph them.
You can see past Halloween on Pacific Avenue street portraits at https://www.janamarcus.com/halloween.
What follows is just a small glimpse of the evening’s magic.
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