Rewards: Capturing the Best Barcelona Image

You know when you are going up the street, everyone looks up and you gotta stop and follow the crowd?

Well, it happened to me at Carrer del Bisbe, Barcelona. In fact, I knew what tourists had spotted up there, but I had to look anyway, because it is in our nature, to imitate others in such moments of curiosity.

They were all trying to find a nice gargoyle, in their quest for the best Barcelona image. The gargoyles in particular are part of the Palau de la Generalitat, near the archway connecting with Casa de los Canónigos.

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.

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 bars ran by Chinese families 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.

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 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.

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.