White Horse, Dark Forest
On the Camino Schmidt near Navacerrada, Sierra de Guadarrama, Madrid. The horse crossed the path in front of us, stopped momentarily in a patch of sunlight to munch on some tasty foliage, and disappeared back into the shadows of the forest.
Full
This month our Wall Project assignment was “Full”. Possibly a tricky theme, I thought, but being a glass-half-full kind of person I set about looking for full things. I found a cupboard full of food, a street packed with people, a full moon, a rock covered in sunbathing turtles and a balcony full of plants.
Difficult to choose a pic for the wall this time… Mario liked the cupboard, Mely voted for the moon and I went for the balcony. The moon got the most second votes though, and it’s interestingly mysterious, so it’ll be gracing our (nearly full) wall in the next few days.
A Well-stocked Cupboard (or Peace of Mind)
The latest Wall Project theme is ‘Full’, and while I ruminate the possibilities of the concept, here’s a picture that I reckon fits the brief: our kitchen cupboard, shortly after a visit to the supermarket.
While I’m more of a “leave it until things run out” kind of a guy, Mely is a firm believer in maintaining the food cupboards filled to bursting point. I must admit, it does give me a certain peace of mind to know that in the event of a global collapse of pasta, breakfast cereal and tinned veg supplies, we’d be able to keep going for a good few weeks. I worry a bit about the durability of that sagging shelf though…
The kitchen is also full of televisions, both of which belong to the flat (not to us), and neither of which work, but for some reason can’t be disposed of and so have to stay there on top of the cupboard providing unusual decoration.
Spring Collection 2010
Wow. After a seemingly endless, bitter winter, spring has sprung so fast that you can almost hear the woosh of greenery sprouting all over the place. Actually, if I stick my head out the window, I can hear the wooshes and squeaks of swifts whizzing around above our street.
What with this year’s generous rainfall, Madrid’s normally arid parks are a wonderful orchestra of greens, and on sunny days the shades are so vivid it looks like nature has gone crazy on photoshop and over-saturated everything.
I took these pics in my favourite Madrid parks; from top to bottom:
1) the grounds of the Templo de Debod
2) Casa de Campo, a few minutes from our flat
3) Mely and a clump of daisies, Casa de Campo
4) chestnut blossoms in El Retiro, Madrid’s most famous and elegant park.
Spring is the latest Wall Project assignment, and Mario and I are going to present our work tonight. Can’t decide which 3 of these 4 to present, and even less which to vote for. Just out of interest, which is your favourite?
Anyway, the sun’s come out and I’m off out to Casa de Campo to make the most of this beautiful spring!
Casper the Holy Ghost
Penitents in Granada, earlier this month.
I often think the hooded penitentes look quite imposing, scary even, as they parade the streets during Semana Santa. However, this group, taking a rest during the procession of the Hermandad de la Aurora, look more Casper the Friendly Ghost than Ku Klux Klan – especially the guy on the left, entranced with his candle.
This pic made the wall for the last Wall Project task: “People”. Next up, candidates for the latest theme: “Spring”.
Surreal
“Oddly dreamlike; incongruous juxtapositions; phantasmagoric imagery”. With this definition from the Free Online Dictionary in mind, I went about exploring the latest Wall Project theme: ‘Surreal’.
As I explored, I found a view of the Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s ‘Kilometre Zero’ that appeared to have been cut up into little pieces and haphazardly glued back together again (top).
I looked into puddles and saw the city upside-down (middle),
and I met a tube-guzzling graffiti monster (bottom).
It was a theme that was fun to shoot, and difficult to choose which of this edit of 3 to put on the wall, but in the end, Mely, Mario and I decided that the Puerta del Sol was the most interesting image. Reflected in the kaleidoscopic glass cupola of the new entrance to Sol metro station, Madrid’s principal square is distorted into a chaotic kingdom reigned over by the Tio Pepe sherry bottle and Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter. But is it dreamlike, or nightmarish?
Trying to Photograph Happiness
Ok, I need your help… Mely’s given us the toughest assignment yet for our wall project: ‘Happiness’. Such a broad and subjective theme at the best of times… but she had to set it in the middle of winter, in the depths of a recession! Happiness is hard to find amongst the gloom and pessimism these days, but perhaps that’s why we needed this assignment.
What angle to explore? Pictures of things that make me feel happy? Abstract images that convey the feeling of joy? It sounds a bit like a brand of low-fat chocolate, but here are my ‘Happy Moments’… pictures of people being happy. In descending order:
The Leaf Angel;
On King Philip’s Seat;
The Party Singers, 1 & 2;
The Hug;
Sunday Morning Lie-in.
What’s the problem? Well, there are six, and the strict Wall Project rules allow us to only present an edit of three photos, so I need your help whittling them down. I’ve got until Sunday to decide. I’m swaying towards The Leaf Angel at the moment… what better way to enjoy a crisp winter’s day than fling yourself into a big pile of fallen leaves? But what do you think?
Sugar Snow
On Monday it snowed here in Madrid. It started when I was on my way to work, and made my mid-morning journey between classes, through glass and steel business parks on the city’s north-eastern fringes, more scenic (and slippery) than usual. However, I didn’t have my camera with me, and by the time I got home the fluffy snowflakes had turned to sleety rain, leaving only mushy grey remnants of what was once snow.
So here’s a photo of sugar snowmen in the window of ‘Caramelos Paco‘, Madrid’s most picturesque sweet shop. Tastier and more cheerful than snowy business parks, I think.
Three Views of the Alhambra
We visited the Alhambra on a stormy Tuesday morning just before Christmas. Our assignment for our wall picture was to come up with something different from the thousands of postcards that can be found in the city’s souvenir shops. Taking an original picture of such a photographed architectural icon was quite a challenge, although the rain helped us avoid copying the postcards. Actually my favourite is the view of the palace accompanied by the smiling bollard (see The Painted Streets of Granada), but I was outvoted and the ceiling arches (top) made the wall.
Granada Jazz
While in Granada we happened upon the Sunday jazz jam session at Boogaloo dance club. We thought it would be a ‘quiet’ way to spend a Sunday evening, but the motley assortment of jazzsters playing at the Boogaloo had other ideas, and an increasingly exuberant multitude of musicians jammed away well past 3Am. Such fun that I was inspired to make Seeing More Jazz my new year’s resolution for 2010. Still haven’t had the opportunity to go to a concert yet this year, but this Sunday evening I’m listening to Charles Mingus get into the swing of things at grooveshark.com, which is fine for now…
The Painted Streets of Granada
Mely, Mario and I spent Christmas with Mely’s family in Granada. We spent our afternoons walking off hearty lunches, wandering until our feet were in need of a rest and our bellies in need of a tapilla or two. The city is famous for its monuments, such as the Alhambra (top), but the crumbling walls of the not-yet gentrified, half-abandoned quarters of its historic neighbourhoods are a blank canvas for graffiti artists such as El Niño de las Pinturas (centre). Granada’s painted streets are the visual expression of this conservative city’s bohemian, irreverent underbelly.
Santa’s night out in Madrid
I found this scene outside a bar a few nights before Christmas. Father Christmas’ fondness for sherry is well documented, but like many a visiting guiri (northern European), it looks like he couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of la noche madrileña…
Caramelos Paco
Back in October, my flatmate (and ex-LCC colleague) Mario and I started a project. Here we were, two lapsed photojournalists, spending our working days doing non-photographic things. Our shutter-fingers were getting itchy, and the bare white expanse of our living room wall was looking in need of some sort of adornment to liven it up. It was obviously going to look better with some pictures on it, but our photographic efforts needed a focus. So Mely suggested a topic: City Life. We had a month to shoot, and at the end of the month we’d reconvene to show our work, with the best pic from each of us getting a place of honour on the wall.
Caramelos Paco didn’t make the wall. I was outvoted by Mely and Mario, but it’s still one of my faves from the project so far. The sweet-filled shopfront is a bit of a Madrid icon, and a visual delight for both passing children and childlike photographers. I walked past again just before Christmas and the charmingly shabby striped awning has been replaced by shiny gold lettering, but the window is still stuffed full of seasonal treats (and the same bikes were still parked outside).
Starting Again (or Back on the Blog)
Doves at Dusk, Jardines de Sabatini, Madrid
It’s a new year (more or less). New decade too. Time to get back on the blog…
