// Barcelona / Las Ramblas - A sad day

18 August 17

Posted at 12:10

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Las Ramblas - Barcelona 

I photographed this image a couple of days ago on Las Ramblas. On that Monday afternoon, Las Ramblas was the usual busy, vibrant & noisy place. I noticed a group of street dancers putting on a show as is the normal case, everyone enjoying themselves. Just before the show ended a guy got up from his drink at the café bar on the righthand side of my image. He gave the street dancers some money & asked if his friend could join in. His friend needed no encouragement and gave an impromptu performance of his own style street dance. The street dancers fell about laughing but still encouraged the guy and incorporated him into the performance. All the audience loved this & it was a moment in time that summed up the vibrant & spontaneity of this beautiful city. My favourite city in the world.

Fast forward a couple of days & the tragic news of the attack on Barcelona. The images I have been watching on the TV are a far cry from mine. Such a mindless, cowardly & horrible attack on innocent people, probably enjoying moments like this before being struck down. 

I know Barcelona will rise against this & not let the attackers & what they stand for win or conquer. Love you Barcelona. 

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// Alfonso / Gracia / Catalunya //

16 August 17

Posted at 10:39

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This is Alfonso, he is a real character living in the village of Gracia in Catalunya.

I first met Alfonso whilst staying in Gracia earlier this year. I was just walking down the street one day & happened to stumble upon Alfonso’s home. He has converted a small balcony area at street level into his home that he shares with his two dogs where he has been living for almost a year, proudly displaying his collection of books, records & images of his hero’s & people he respects. Alfonso’s collection immediately grabbed my attention & I wanted to find out more about the man behind this.

Despite my lack of the Catalan language & Alfonso’s lack of English, we somehow spoke for an hour about everything from classic westerns, boxing but mainly music. Alfonso told me that Highway To Hell by AC/DC was the most important rock album written & that his other hero’s included such diversity as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan to John Wayne, Muhammad Ali & Marilyn Monroe. He had all the Western films featuring John Wayne & others on VHS. I’m not too sure how he played them as I didn’t see a VHS player or TV! He did play his music to me though, changing CD’s rapidly as he spoke about this band & that. He played me bits of music, playing along with ‘air guitar’ to bits of the songs that he loved!

I have just got back yesterday from another visit to Barcelona with my Street Photography. I went to see Alfonso as soon as I got to Gracia. I refrained from disturbing him though as he was shadow boxing to his Christmas Tree! I did speak to him the next day though & he greeted me as he always does saying ‘Ola Guapo’. I took him a print of the last portrait I took of him which he was genuinely pleased to receive. I told him that he could put it next to the photographs of his hero’s but he placed it on his table with his CD player, possibly as an homage to both our love of music.

It was important for me to represent Alfonso through my images of himself & his world. I didn’t want to instruct him on how to pose & as you can see I often turned up at his home to find him having a siesta with his dogs! I wanted to give the viewer of the images the sense of pride that Alfonso has in his collection & how he has made his place of living a home, with everything in its place just as he wants. Hopefully I will get to see Alfonso again on my next trip to Gracia.

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// Street Portrait Barcelona //

16 August 17

Posted at 9:22

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I noticed this guy from across the street in Barcelona who I thought looked an interesting person. The way he was stood with his hands against the railings & his style of clothes looked for the makings of a good portrait. 

I approached him & as I don't speak any Catalan & he spoke no English, lots of pointing & hand gestures were used. He immediately brought his cigar down & stood smiling for me. My style of street portraiture is very much natural so I didnt want him smiling. He just carried on smoking his cigar whilst I carried on taking images. I loved his hands with the rings and the skulls & then in the middle of this is his wedding ring! 

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