Happy Halloween

A Sarcophagus at the Cementerio de Montjuïc, Barcelona, 2009

With Halloween nearly upon us and the Day of the Dead shortly thereafter, I have uploaded a gallery with photos from two of the world's most interesting cemeteries, Cementerio de Montjuïc in Barcelona and Père Lachaise in Paris. The two are completely different. Click here to view the gallery.

Montjuïc sits on a rocky hill in the far outskirts of Barcelona. I visited in 2009 with my daughter on a hot, clear and bright June day. Because of this, the photos show a brilliance to the day that makes a strong counterpoint to the subject. Built on a series of terraces cut into a hillside with staircases leading from one to the next, Montjuïc is huge. Although we spent most of the day there, I think we barely saw a quarter of the place.

My experience with Père Lachaise was exactly the opposite. First, it was cold and pouring rain most of the day, which makes for pretty gloomy photography that matches the theme. Also, although not centrally located in Paris, it is nonetheless a short walk from the metro in Paris proper. Many celebrities are also burried in Père Lachaise including Jim Morrison, Edith Piaff, and Oscar Wilde.

Wilde's grave is by far the most interesting of all. Done in an Egyptian/Art Deco style it attracts so many visitors that it is cordoned off with a wall of inch-thick plexiglass on which people have written their dedications to his memory. The dedications are both intimate and moving. It's obvious that his writings and his life have touched many people.

All the photos in the gallery are available for purchase in sizes from 8x10 to 20x30 and can even be delivered already mounted and framed in a wide selection of styles. Click here to view gallery and purchase prints.

Happy Halloween.

Summertime

The lazy days of summer are upon us now.  By the time this post is uploaded, I'll be somewhere in Massachusetts taking in the sites and marveling at how cool it is in June compared to Miami.

In Miami we sort of take for granted warm weather, but also tend to shy away from the open sun during the summer, except if actually at the beach.  The photo at right was taken in Barcelona, also during June, in 2009.  While it was warm, Spain is much farther north and so it wasn't as oppressively hot as summertime in Miami.  While strolling the port area on our second day we encountered these three young men (boys?) sunning themselves. 

The photo speaks of a languid idyl of summer and youth, a time when all our lives are ahead of us and the world seems warm and full of possibilities.  I love the photo of these three youths.  I love how the yacht and the building (a mansion?  a hotel?) lie beyond them with the mountain even beyond that and how they are separated from these things by a body of water, as if separated from their futures by a gulf of time.  The possibilities are out there, but they're just kicking back, reveling in their youth and enjoying the summer.  There will be time enough for those things someday.

The Voice of an Angel

El Barrio Gotico

In June of 2009, I took my daughter on her first trip abroad to Barcelona. The city is relatively small but absolutely fabulous, full of beautiful architecture and wonderful people. We stayed at the Majestic (excellent service but very expensive, I thought), located on Paseo de Gracia near La Rambla Catalunya but north of Plaza Universitat, the dividing line between the scenic but more modern Barcelona and the Barrio Gotico, or old Barcelona. When La Rambla crosses Plaza Universitat it changes character and becomes much more touristy, still quaint but touristy. The farther down on the Rambla that you go the farther into the Barrio Gotico you venture. You can tell because the side streets become smaller and smaller.

On one day when I'd left my daughter sleeping at the Majestic, I walked that distance and turned into the Bario Gotico. The streets kept narrowing and the people took on a different appearance, they no longer looked like locals from La Rambla who catered to the tourists, they now looked like locals who sort of, maybe tolerated tourists but didn't really like them too much. I kept walking and just plowed into the heart of the Barrio Gotico, rounded a turn and walked right into a largish plaza surrounded by apartments and populated to all appearances by hookers. 

[more after the break]

Hip Shots

Barcelona, June, 2009

If you use an instrument or a tool long enough, eventually you don't see its separateness anymore.  The thing you use, whatever it might be, ceases to exist separately and becomes virtually an extension of you.  I know several seasoned musicians who feel this way about their instruments.  

I've been shooting 1 Series Canon cameras for nearly a decade now.  Both my Canons, in fact, are set exactly the same so that I can switch between them without thinking about it.  A few years back Canon changed the interface and operations of its 1 Series.  I've grown so accustomed to mine that I can't really imagine switching over anytime soon.  Well, that and the expense too.

Jada Cole's, May, 2010

I'm so accustomed to them, actually, that on many occasions I can just point a camera and click off a shot being pretty certain not only that I was able to achieve focus, but that I also captured an interesting frame too.

The first shot in this series was captured in the Bario Gotico in Barcelona in June, 2009.  I was standing outside a small, quaint shop waiting for my daughter to decide what she wanted when this couple just crossed my path.  The guy made eye contact with me and grimaced.  I don't know why -- he just did.  I quickly angled my camera, pressed the focus button and then squeezed off a shot.  No second chances on this one.

The second image was taken as the parting shot as I left Jada Cole's late one evening in May, 2010.  As I was leaving the bar, she looked over and smiled.  I moved my camera in position and took this shot.  I think she's lovely.

Barcelona Street Scenes

Located directly on the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain, Barcelona has a rich history dating back at least 2,000 years when it gained prominence as a Roman town under its old name, Barcino. Spain's second largest and arguably most beautiful city "is full of what European cities are known for (outdoor markets, restaurants, shops, museums, and churches) and is fantastic for walking with an extensive and reliable Metro system for more far-flung destinations.