Baaaaaaaaad day today. Got caught in a thunderstorm, so wasted most of the day. Came back to find I’d forgotten to toggle the ‘raw’ switch and have a card full of lo-res jpegs. Not a set, but 8 pics from today.
But lunch was good… congrejo con caracoles…
My worktable is filled with small work prints that I’m experimenting with, finding different ways of combining them. Whilst a lot of the sitges pics were shot as raw material for combinations or constructions, I’m quite surprised by how well they work as singles. Small set here.
Every year, I shoot in the coastal town of Sitges, about 45 mins by train from Barcelona. Here is a small set.
Tim Atherton is back from holidays and is offering a new print as part of his small editions. Get ‘em while you can.
UPDATE.
Tim also has the series from which this image is taken online
It is against the Spanish constitution to ‘mock’ the royal family (gasp).
This is the cover of the latest issue of ‘El Jueves’ the Spanish equivalent to ‘Private Eye’ featuring the Prince and and Princess of Asturias commenting on the latest govt initiative to pay couples for having children to help combat the negative birthrate…
The magazine has been pulled from the stands by judicial order, and the artist is facing a legal challenge with the possibility of a stay in prison… more here.
Conservative woman’s groups sya it is not a ‘comfortable’ position for her…
Update… that link is bad because the webpage and magazine have now been shut down…
Update…
This was posted as a response to photographer Ed Nixon’s series ‘Blackbird’.
To see Ed’s Blackbird work, go here
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9j0_NivFj4]
Bear in mind the last time a train track was constructed under Barcelona (last year) half a neighbourhood disappeared into the resulting hole
I’ve been indulging myself in some random, ‘walking around’ shooting…. a small set here
If anyone is suffering in 33deg (C) city heat and wants me to release this as a 25×100 edition let me know!
Long day yesterday, hence had breakfast in my local bar. This place is famous as being the hang out of writers and artists from the Franco period - not so now (but hey, I was there!)!
Had a migraine yesterday, ao only managed a couple of snaps whilst going to the chemist…
I’ve had a couple of emails asking what criteria I use to combine pics, and in particular Exotic5 - which some people seem to see as a riff on a set of colours.
There are more hairdressers in Spain, per head of the population, than any other European country. Image is very important. The role of women is also something that is fiercely contested.
For those over 40, who grew up under Franco and the Roman Catholic church, the traditional role of mother and wife first, and anything else second, can cause fierce tensions.
I saw a middle-aged woman hanging out those t-shirts. Looking at the style of the clothes I’m guessing for her son. They are immaculately done. Looking ‘at pixels’ you see nary a crease, and that straight from the washing machine. She took her time, and did everything with great care and attention.
Shortly after that I spotted the hairdresser’s window. A slightly faded poster advertising a different kind of role model. And yes, the colours matched the previous pic. So I couldn’t resist the combination
Thanks for taking the time to comment! As always it is very much appreciated.
The blog is a good place to post singles and work in progress rather than tight sequences, so I’ve been using it a fair bit. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve trimmed down the website a lot - only one urban landscape project there now - so the blog is stepping in to take up the slack.
The trips… yeah I have a huge guilty feeling everytime I do one of these. I love shooting for them as it really makes you concentrate on compositions - I’m intensely aware of the spaces I’m shooting, so the high is very rewarding. The guilt comes from making these wonderful compositions by a montage and not as single pics. I’m very aware that people respond to the highly graphic nature of these, so I’m very tight with myself to only combine pics from one space. After all their reason for being is to reflect on a particular space, not just to be merely arbitrary graphic arrangements - even if that is how some people respond to them. There is a part of me that is also very worried that I’m not a photographer anymore, although in truth I stopped thinking of myself as a photographer a while back.
I really don’t know why the new work is easier. I’ve changed camera and format and I’m not really into my stride with the digicam yet. I’m so used to seeing a very bright high res MF gg and composing taking into account every detail, just seeing a vague outline on a lcd is taking some getting used to. Loosing the square hurts to. The square can be SO dynamic. You can use the sides, corners, top, every aspect can be made to work. The rectangle is not suitable for that. I couldn’t do those trip-type compositions with it.
It could also be that I’m much more assured so I’m not trying to prove myself with every pic. I’m quite happy to stand back and take ’simple’ pics. Although, like you, I think the bitches brew has gone.
I’m not sure how the new stuff will work out. The aim is for a lulu-type book. I want to try and use singles, dips, montages, all mixed together. The design of the book will be as important to the work as the pìcs I guess. Narrative is important to me, it is my main concern I think. Not so much the ’story’ narrative of scene of the crime, but something more nebulous. You are right, I’m not really that interested in singles as stand-alones any more , but I’m am veryinterested in doing some serious montage work, not sure how but I hope to work on some ideas over the summer.
Anyway, thanks for the comments! I’ll probably come back to these after I’ve thought some more.
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