Above: The late James Devenney of Brighton in Kensington Gardens, wearing one of his more sober outfits.
I'm sure most villages, towns, and cities have their fair share of eccentrics. Some are naturally that way; others possibly use eccentricity as a prop.
Here in Brighton, I suspect that we have more than the 'national average'; if there is such a thing.
Just recently I have noticed a young man who stands static in the churchyard, staring up into the sky. He is always in the same spot, always at the same hour, and always looking up at what seems to be a 45 degree angle. What he is doing, or looking for/at, I have no idea.
Clothing is the most obvious expression of individuality, and walking around town on a Saturday morning (or on any other day at any other time) one really does see some wonderful examples. I would love to take my camera around with me, but I have to respect the privacy of those involved. James Devenney (above) was a well loved character around the North Laine area of Brighton, and enjoyed being photographed.
A bit of eccentricity makes life more interesting. What would we do without a few oddballs in our lives; they light-up my life on a daily basis.
Wearing odd clothes as the man in your photo does not qualify him alone as being eccentric. Eccentricity is about a way of quirky behaviour in seeing the world slightly differently to others and coming across as charming but slightly weird in my experience. One wouldn't know about that man unless one engaged him in conversation. The boy standing looking up at the sky sounds more like he might be suffereing from some form of mental illness rather than being eccentric.
ReplyDeleteI saw the skyward-looking boy again this morning. I think that attracting attention by wearing bizarre clothing is often just a 'prop', but the fact that people need to do it is odd in itself. I would call that 'eccentric' simply because it's outside of the norm.
DeleteYes, I agree it is odd but it does not automatically mean someone is eccentric in my opinion.
DeleteThe boy staring up st the sky is probably " on something". He sounds a lonely soul.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed him over the past few weeks. I almost feel like asking him what he's looking for.
Deletethere is a drug where the user stands like a statue for ages.( I worked in a hostel for 7 years) He may not want any help, tho.
DeleteMy view would be that the late Mr Devenney saw himself as a performance artist, and enjoyed brightening up the world. True eccentrics don't know that they are eccentric - they do things/wear things in a way that suits them, and don't even realise that other people think their behaviour to be odd. There's also context - within their own 'tribe' they may be legends. The rest of us just see them as very strange.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of Quentin Crisp. He had a way with words, matched by his outlandish dress sense. All power to the eccentrics I say.
ReplyDeleteHow different it is from the countryside you've lived in for so many years.
ReplyDeleteI love eccentrics - not sure I would like to have been married to one.
ReplyDeleteIt is surely one of the hallmarks of a truly free society that we not only tolerate eccentrics but we embrace them. When oddballs are targeted by the ignorant that is when we know things are going wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis has reminded me of a chap we used to see regularly cycling around Worthing back in the 1980s. He always wore a brightly coloured, deckchair striped jacket, bow tie, white gloves, straw boater and large sunglasses. He loved to attract attention and would wave as he passed by.
ReplyDeleteI remember there was a young man in Whitby, who wore long flowing robes and looked exactly like Jesus. He was cared for by people in the town. And I never forget whilst in Middlesborough I saw him on the other side of the street and said "look, there is Jesus" for which I received funny looks.
ReplyDeleteA little weird and proud of it.
ReplyDeleteMy late uncle always said: eccentric defines an odd wealthy man, without the wealth you are crazy.
ReplyDeleteSeeing him in that outfit would certainly lift my spirits! There are eccentrics who brighten our days and then there are the just plain crazy, sometimes it's difficult to tell which is which.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest Cro, I think we're all a bit 'odd'... and yes, a bit of eccentricity does make people more interesting (IMO anyway).
ReplyDeleteI thought that in Brighton it was considered eccentric not to be eccentric.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously know Brighton well.
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