Barcelona Weddings: The Silent Witnesses

Keeping with the behind-the-scenes perspective of the previous post, weddings like this one in a renown Barcelona hotel are also worth witnessing as a complete outsider. I am sure this photograph will develop an interesting bouquet, a special patina, over time.

The moment was captured at the entrance of El Palace Barcelona that used to be the old Ritz.

Commercial Shooting at Somorrostro Beach, Barcelona: behind-the-scenes perspective

If you go for the model, that sweet lady with the curly hair, you would probably get a striking portrait but nothing like the spark-of-the-moment circus on a set before a commercial shooting session, the chaotic behind-the-scenes perspective of a photographic mise-en-scène at Somorrostro beach in Barcelona.

Barcelona, The Dark Side

Some things never change, the gap between rich and poor keeps growing and the future is not very promising, considering that AI, automation and digitalization imposed by the so called Industrial Revolution 4.0 will redefine works and will deteriorate the situation even further unless governments make a better distribution of the benefit obtained with such amazing technology. Less capitalism, less monopolies and more control of our success in the search for knowledge, let's do it for the sake of mankind.

Man with Taqiyah Cap, Barri Gotic, Barcelona

Man wearing a taqiyah cap and sitting in a narrow alley of El Barri Gotic in Barcelona. The light seemed ideal for meditation.

Barcelona Biker

Barcelona Biker

This guy that resembles the main character from The Walking Dead in disguise, at least to me, stood right in front of me at the pedestrian crossing and I found it interesting to grab that concentrated look.

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.

Boy and Dog, Arc de Triomf, 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.

Isolation, Arch of Triumph, Barcelona

Isolation

Like a ghost wandering through passers-by along Passeig de Lluis Companys, just in front of Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, goes this guy on his skateboard, isolated from the real world by his high-tech headphones. I like the gentle pose and his detached attitude.

Begging in the Streets of Barcelona

Beggar in Barcelona

Not everything is beautiful architecture, and hedonism in Barcelona. Maybe you looked the other way and you pretended not to see it but the problem is there and always comes back like a boomerang. We had precariousness before and we will have more and more every time.

Democracy is a great idea but capitalism is not democracy. The power of the people does not have to be concentrated in the hands of a few, a few that wouldn't care less about precariousness. Yes, we have parliament, we have a voting system, we approve or disapprove, we raise or lower the thumb but too often we are just the mob in the coliseum. There are still too many emperors out there pulling the strings in the dark, feeding the lions with slaves, the needed people.

Break Time

Break Time

It is a well known cliche that in Spain from a group of say, five workers there is only one digging the hole while the rest is watching. I have to say that in part this is true although things are changing little by little. In working parties you always have categories, the foreman who is the most veteran and exempt from doing the hard work (he generally gives orders, inspects and at most, drives comfortably in a small bulldozer or a fork lift truck, the specialist, e.g a certified welder, well paid in general, and of course, concentrated in his delicate work and the laborer, el peón, that is, the one that digs the hole.

And then, well, there can be some laborers watching other laborers while waiting for their turn to dig in shifts. But by any means, I want to say this is the general trend nowadays and of course laborers in Spain or abroad deserve all my respect because they are the motor of our economy and there is nothing more admiring that a worker. This image I took near Passeig de Gracia at the entrance to a construction site. Workers were obviously taken a break after a hard day's work.

Counter Bass Player at Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

Counter Bass Player Calling

Man, you really ought to love music a lot to carry a beast like this, seems to be saying that fellow with the camera. In fact, the counter bass player was calling all the time in distress, perhaps waiting for someone to come a pick him up. It's no plan to go around the park looking for someone with this heavy load. I admire these people that are willing to sacrifice for the sake of music and their passion in life.

As you see in street photography it is good that the picture tells a story. Unfortunately, this does not happen all the time when you shoot but it does help make the picture more meaningful. And of course, everybody sees a different story. That's wonderful.

Bocadillo and Spanish Cheap Wine

Spanish Cheap Wine

A man accompanies his bocadillo (sandwich made with rustic baguette bread) with some Spanish cheap wine in a Tetra Pak. Certainly, I wouldn't recommend it in those boxes no matter how popular they are, cause in general, they lack body and flavor.

In Spain, the country of good wines, it is quite a contradiction that wine in Tetra Brik is so demanded. Don Simon, that also sells Sangria is by far the most popular.

Baby Backpack

Baby Backpack

Baby greeting passersby from a rudimentary backpack. The woman was begging for money. It happened near Rambla de Catalunya street in Barcelona.

The image is blurry cause it was a snapshot and it got focused on the wrong stuff but I think the moment is worth showing.

Hope Along the Way

Hope Along the Way

Just a little hope awaits on every corner, but too often expectations are not met. Taken from the hip on Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Man Reading Newspapers

Man Reading Newspapers

Reading is an activity that can detach you from reality so much you can even sit in the middle of a noisy street, surrounded by cars and motorcycles without even noticing.

I like the pose and serenity of this elderly man, the living proof of human adaptation to an urban environment.

Friends, Vic, Catalonia

Friends, Vic, Catalonia

Two men that seem to be neighborhood friends possibly talking about soccer. A guy is holding the Sport, one of the two main sports newspapers in Catalonia; the other stands up and says something before leaving. A very normal weekend scene in our country where soccer is almost a religion.

This picture was taken in Vic, capital of Osona in the Barcelona province.

Land Surveyor With Compass on Barcelona Street

Land surveyor measuring with compass on Barcelona street

Roaming the streets of Barcelona you can be pleasantly surprised by the most unusual scenes. Street photography sometimes is just about that, roaming and hoping for an unusual shot. You can take a series of pictures totally at random or you can found your subject and frame it with relative time.

On this particular occasion, I did have time to compose and I was lucky enough to find something I like a lot, people working, doing their job. Here is a land surveyor, scrutinizing the distance and measuring with her compass. It is that kind of job you always wondered how the heck it works and what it is good for. If you are one of those that ever wondered that, maybe you can find out here: What is surveying or land surveying?

Preparing Cod Fish, Barcelona

Man preparing cod fish

Man preparing cod fish at El Ninot market in Barcelona. With this modest sample of street photography I want to inaugurate this blog where I pretend to concentrate on everyday scenes I shoot in the city. Should you prefer a more eclectic work please browse my complete portfolio at the main site: Barcelona Photoblog.

I intend to dedicate the same amount of time to Barcelona Street Photography as I devote to my other blog and I am sure Barcelona has got a lot to give in that sense. I have noticed that although there are plenty of similar websites dedicated to portray our reality there are not so many that clearly state they are about street photography. This is something I love and like to share with you. I hope thanks to this new adventure I find friends with similar interests to give some feedback.