Man Smoking at Barri Gotic, Barcelona

Man Smoking

Capturing an instant is thrilling but a selfish act anyway. Although you are just being a witness documenting time and will not profit from the result, it is their life anyway and you were not supposed to be there opening that window for others to gossip. But we are humans, we are social, we want to know, we want to document our history and learn about the past or improve the way we experience our present. We have wonderful eyes, and the power of our tongue and our brain to transmit our message to our peers but with a camera we have the possibility to freeze that second that went by, that mysterious span of time that is no more as I am writing this post, gone, finito. Isn't it great? We can do magic and so we will go on being selfish on behalf of our curiosity. When you are approached by somebody with camera think a bit on that.

Bodega Lluis in Barcelona

Bodega

There used to be a lot of bodegas in Barcelona, a sort of wine shop and tapas bar, where you could buy bottles of red or white wine, vermouth, cava, etc or simply bulk wine while you were having a nice tapa, but this sort of business is slowly yielding ground to stores ran by immigrants or shutting down because owners retire and their sons don't want to go on with the family tradition. Anyway, some are still there spread around the city, some retain the original mood and charm and others have reinvented themselves to survive adopting a new concept. In case you want to visit them, here is a short list: Bodegas in Barcelona. In this picture, you have, Bodega Lluis in Calle Pinar del Río, 74. They have the best anchovies in the city according to many clients, including me. But this blog is about street photos so, just like to point out that I like the scene with the man looking towards the entrance and the light coming in this small universe of bottles and wine casks.

Shopkeeper, Barri Gotic, Barcelona

Shopkeeper

During your photowalks do not forget to inspect every nook and cranny for possible views of interior scenes. Here some products at the window display served as an improvised prop for framing the subject. Inside, the shopkeeper, possibly Indian or Pakistani watching customers from the cash register. The place, Barri Gotic in Barcelona, a neighborhood where immigration is ever growing, a melting pot of cultures that makes it more attractive for taking pictures. Here I was using Nikon Nikkor Lens - 35 mm - F/1.8 on a D7000.

Eixample Light, Barcelona

Light

Sometimes you are not very sure about a picture and in fact best practice may suggest you should not publish it. Your friends say they don't like it. Your daughter hates it. And still, you were there and that scene just told you something. The problem is that you did not manage to capture it as you wished. Well, this is more or less what happened to me in some street in the Eixample quarter in Barcelona. In the afternoon, there's this mesmerizing and slumbering light piercing through the platane or London Plane trees (platanero) that I want to pursue with my camera many times but I never quite manage to capture. At least it felt right to be there in the first place.

From my balcony: Drummers (Barcelona, Spain)

Drummers

Drummers parading past my building and captured from above, from my balcony. Changing the angle does the trick sometimes.

Lovers, Maremagnum Center, Barcelona

Lovers

Love, oh that immaterial thing so many times expressed in so many ways, so undefined and so impossible to trap in human words. Love, oh that intangible asset, that ethereal feeling that replenishes our soul with tons of universal waves connecting our every cell with other entities, creating nodes, emotional networks vibrating in unison. This anonymous couple unknowingly is just a successful synapse transmitting signals inside a huge cosmic brain, a collective soul, sharing the mysterious power that moves our world, the abstract matter that drives our history, love.

Boy and Dog, Arc de Triumf, Barcelona, Spain

Boy holding dog near Arc de Triomf in Barcelona

Street photography is no exact science in the sense that it is less strict that landscaping or night photography for example. Not that you have to ignore every rule but you have more freedom to capture a specific scene and time for preparations is not as important as timing. Whether you are taking quick snaps in the good old way or shooting from the hip, it gets difficult to stand there composing, measuring the correct light or pretending those people around your subject walk out from the scene so sometimes you get too many scattered things or people as in this shot. This was taken right in front of the Arch of Triumph in Passeig de Lluis Companys, Barcelona. One thing I regret though, not to have captured the feet properly. Maybe next time. I only had time to watch the guy vacantly staring at God knows where or what while the dog seems to be doing more of the same. Check Arc de Triomf at Barcelona Photoblog.