More protest images from Barcelona as surging nationalism continues to polarise Catalunya and Spain, leading towards ever increasing tension. Shown here are images from street protests against police violence, and a protest calling for dialogue rather than confrontation between the two opposing political factions – one of the few politically neutral responses to the escalating violence and division.
A set of film photographs taken during the day of the independence referendum in Catalunya. The central government’s attempt to shutdown the referendum, which is illegal under Spanish constitutional law, failed after the regional Catalan police essentially refused to cooperate. As a result the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional were used in a last minute attempt to close polling stations, resulting in hundreds of incidents of violence across the region as police battled with ordinary people. Despite this, only a handful of stations were closed. With a turnout of 42% […]
Another set of black and white film images taken in the build up to the contested Catalan independence referendum and corresponding protests, this time showing a student demonstration in Plaça Universidad and the start of the occupation of polling stations in anticipation of a police lock-down.
A second set of film images of the independence movement protests, this time taken outside of the Universidad de Barcelona. This event was very carefully orchestrated to try to portray Catalunya as if it was an oppressed nation under the control of a distant dictatorship in Madrid. Carnations were distributed as a deliberate reference to the 1975 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The protest group also openly arranged to print and distribute ballot papers for the planned illegal referendum, openly challenging the Guardia Civil’s confiscation of ballot materials in the last week. Here […]
A short set of film photographs taken at various demonstrations and protest points in Barcelona over the last week. These are the result of a proposed “independence” referendum being pushed through by the regional parliament against the wishes of the central government in Madrid. The result is a political disaster, creating ever deeper and more dangerous divides both internally in Catalunya and externally with Spain. So far the protests have largely been very peaceful, typically involving a few tens of thousands of people from diverse backgrounds. While there has been […]
This is a user-review of the Leica M typ 262, based on one year of use with a mix of street, landscape and architectural photography.
We recently had a chance to visit the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. Aside from the exhibitions inside, the building itself is a masterpiece that was designed by the amazing American architect, Frank Gehry. The building is mostly known for its titanium cladding and twisted intersecting forms. These photographs were taken of the structure inside, deliberately abstracted to exclude as much texture and detail as possible to give an impression of the forms used. Architecture aside, the exhibits in the museum were excellent – and would justify a visit to Bilbao […]
Trying something different this week, with a set of five (quasi) architectural images, again shot with the M7 and Ilford Delta 400. While the grain tends to add character to the street images, I am not sure that it works so well for these kinds of shots.
Scenes from summer in Barcelona, shot on Ilford Delta 400 film with the M7 and 50mm C-Sonnar. The temperature and humidity here at the moment are completely unbearable – and half of the fridge has been taken over by film and chemicals to stop the heat spoiling them. Who needs food :-)
A selection of ordinary street scenes in Barcelona. It would be tempting to post about last week’s apalling terrorist attacks and subsequent far-right clashes. But the city will go on unperturbed, and ultimately that is the only riposte that matters. Lastly, for anyone interested in potential solutions to the problem of ISIS and similar groups (in which I include extremists such as the so-called alt-right movement), this New Scientist article on radicalisation is an excellent starting point. All images taken with the Leica M7 and Zeiss 50mm C-Sonnar on Ilford […]
Finally back to some film photography. These were taken around Barcelona with the M7, Zeiss C-Sonnar and Ilford Delta 400. It is very painful walking the streets at the moment, as temperatures have routinely been above 30c along with some very high humidity.
The second set of night-time street images taken in Barcelona and shot on high-ISO film. These are images of an illegal street market late at night (around 10pm) at the Rambla del Mar, at the harbour. The sellers are usually illegal immigrants, and most of the goods are fake clones of branded handbags, shoes, sunglasses and Barcelona FC shirts. All images taken with the Leica M7 and Zeiss ZM 1,5/50 with Ilford Delta 3200 metered at EI3200 and processed in ID-11 as if shot at EI6400.
The first of two sets of night-time street images taken in Barcelona shot on high-ISO film. The intention was to capture something of the night-time in Barcelona with a vintage-look. Away from the main streets it can be very dark in Barcelona. All images taken with the Leica M7 and Zeiss ZM 1,5/50 with Ilford Delta 3200 metered at EI1600 and processed in ID-11. The lens was shot wide-open, partly because shutter speed was a problem even at EI1600, but mostly because I really like the glow around […]
A slideshow of images taken on a recent trip to Padova, Italy. This was not really a photographic trip, although it was a chance to put the M262 (camera, not aircraft) through its paces following the six week long repair in Wetzlar. Padova is a fascinating city that is a microcosm of Italy. There are many contrasts: the old town and new developments, exemplary classical art and modern graffiti, young and old. You could easily spend weeks observing and photographing in this town, and still not run out of new […]
Endesa Gas Power Plant at the end of the Rio Besòs, Barcelona. Ilford Delta 3200 at EI 1600 in Microphen.
Four random colour scenes of everyday life in Barcelona. Colour shots taken in the market are really painful to edit, as the extremely mixed lighting makes getting anything vaguely approaching acceptable colour painful. I would love to find a practical, efficient strategy to adjust colour for indoor “street” shots that is more effective than the Monte-Carlo method that I currently use…
