27-NOV-2011
Sunday strollers, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
While walking through the pedestrian-only narrow streets of Barcelona’s La Boqueria neighborhood, my eye was drawn to this incongruous contrast: the elegant art nouveau lettering and metal work over the entrance to this establishment plays against the graffiti-laden metal shutter locked in place below it. (On Sunday, drawn shutters seem to prevail in Barcelona.) Rather than simply photographing the comparison of such clashing embellishments, I waited for some passing strollers to bring it to life. Three people simultaneously walked between my camera and the entrance – two of them stride past together, while the third emerges behind them, almost grazing the closed shutter. The shift in scale is startling. Meanwhile, a lone pigeon stands in their path, obviously unconcerned about being run-down.
17-NOV-2011
Minimalism, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2011
Stacks of empty shelves and 13 unclothed mannequins draw nary a glance from this passing pedestrian. The window display is rich in contrasts, replete with striking variations in attitude, gender, age, and skin color. The sidewalk dominating the foreground is as bare as the batch of encased mannequins. I made this image from the lofty vantage point of a tour bus.
17-NOV-2011
Intersection, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2011
Tel Aviv, known as the “The City That Never Sleeps” is a virtual newcomer to the Israeli scene. Many of Israel’s cities and towns are thousands of years old, yet Tel Aviv was founded comparatively recently in 1909. Its population is only 400,000, yet it draws almost three million visitors a year to its 24 hour culture, beaches, bars, cafes, and shops. But such popularity has its price – traffic congestion here is pervasive. I made this image from our tour bus, stalled in the middle of clogged intersection. The traffic is backed up as far as the eye can see. A lone pedestrian threads her way between cars in the foreground. One foot is suspended in air, providing a focal point and giving energy to the image.
07-SEP-2011
The old and the new, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
The tiled roofs act as awnings, a tribute to the distinctive architectural heritage of this Andean city. The building is probably well over 100 years old, yet the graffiti that fills its long white wall is relatively new. I waited until a pedestrian moved past it, and photographed her as she reached the end of the building. She never looked up – the old building and its new graffiti that caught and held my eye, seemed to be just another part of the landscape for her.
07-SEP-2011
Andean Family, Biblian, Ecuador, 2011
I made this image from a moving car’s window – we were going down a hill, while this Andean highland family was trudging up it. I liked the placement of the child in a shocking pink jacket at the head of the group, and the position of the woman in a brilliant red skirt who brings up the rear. I also liked the way the image works on two levels at the same time. While the family takes the low road, a woman carrying a huge sack of food climbs an even steeper incline in the background. The cobblestone street and the stone-faced walls add character and a sense of locale to the scene.
08-SEP-2011
At the corner, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
I find that street corners often provide insightful street images, primarily because that is where people most often converge.
In the case of this image, a man was selling food from a cart at the corner itself. People are walking towards him along one street, and away from him along another. I waited to shoot until the man carrying a piece of scaffolding was well along the street at left, followed in turn by three women, two of them wearing the distinctive Ecuadorian fedoras. Two of those women suddenly stopped to talk, one of them looking up at the building. Meanwhile two other women come towards the cart from the right hand street, completely unaware of what is going on just around the corner from them. The 19th century building on that corner was distinctive in its own right – it is a classic colonial style structure, painted four colors, and covered with advertising. This street photograph offers a slice of everyday life in Cuenca, offering us a look at not only what its streets look like, but feel like.
08-SEP-2011
Indulging the dog, Ricaurte, Ecuador, 2011
In the village of Ricaurte, they don’t walk the dog – they simply indulge it. I found it amusing that this mother/daughter duo simply walked out of the house and stood there like statues as the dog sniffed about the stoop and then left his puddle upon it. This photo is a street tableau, an insight into Ecuadorian village life. The mother, dressed in the vivid primary colors of Ecuador’s Andean highlands, and wearing the traditional fedora hat, studies a note in her hands as her daughter gazes resolutely at us. Neither pays attention to the dog, and the dog certainly paid no heed to them.
14-SEP-2011
The passing parade, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
When making street photographs, I often choose a particular building as a backdrop. In this case, I chose a very old building under reconstruction. I liked its foundation of ancient stones. Partially draped in plastic tarps, and festooned with ropes and wires, the building represents Cuenca’s continual efforts to renew itself. I then waited for a cross section of Cuencanos to parade below the building, bringing the scene to life. A woman leads the charge up the street, her child in hand. Another woman in traditional Andean costume follows – her brilliant red skirt creating the focal point for the entire image. Two men bring up the rear – they look as if they may be on their way to work.
17-SEP-2011
The street as a stage, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
I regard the street as a stage. It has a defined area, flanked by a “set.” I allow the actors to walk on this stage and relate to each other and to the setting, almost always without realizing they are being photographed as they do so. This image is a typical example of my street photography technique. I like the pattern of the old cobblestone street. The green and gold painted walls add character, and the advertisements in the windows of a beauty salon offer striking portraiture. Two signs marking an entrance to a public parking garage stand in the middle of the street, acting as bookends for my image. I stood within the entrance to the parking garage, and waited for my “cast” to appear. I made about 20 images in about ten minutes, all of them capturing the relationships of passers-by in both time and space. In this one, I was able to create a triangular relationship involving three diverse individuals. A woman wearing a traditional Ecuadorian costume anchors the image. She dresses in the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue, and gives this photograph its sense of place. She is larger in scale than the woman who walks away from the camera at the mid point of the frame. She looks in one direction, while a man who is even smaller, apparently waiting for someone across the street, looks in another. The glamorous models portrayed in the pictures within the window of the beauty shop across the street seem to be seeing these characters but never acknowledge them.
05-SEP-2011
First day of school, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
These girls, on their way to a private high school, not only dress alike and have similar hairstyles, but when they walk the streets of the city, they walk together in tight clusters. I like the way the red jackets, plaid skirts, and white stockings seem to blend together as we work our way up and down the image. One of them sips a drink and looks at my camera, while the others giggle but do not dare make eye contact. They are simply kids being kids, full of energy and anticipation on their first day of school.
05-SEP-2011
Detour, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
I noticed a splash of soapy water emerge from a shop’s open doorway, and then flowing across the sidewalk into the gutter.
I photographed numerous people stepping through and around the mess. This one was my favorite, largely because the little girls were dressed in matching costumes for their opening day of school. Their mother spotted the soapy puddle just in time, and carefully guides her children around it. (I get the feeling that the little girls would have enjoyed splashing through it, disregarding its effect on their shiny new shoes.)
12-SEP-2011
Incongruity, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
I have no idea if the concept behind the incongruous big splash painted on the wall around the door to this Cuenca club was the idea of a graffiti artist or the club itself. It seemed even more incongruous when the club was shuttered, as it was here. The splash is full of exuberance, daring the visitor to enter, while the steel shutter is grimly restrictive. To move the image to still another level of incongruity, I envisioned an oblivious pedestrian framed within the shuttered splash. I watched and waited, and when this woman, carrying her child on her back and wearing pink sweat pants, trundled past with a pushcart full of treats, I had what I wanted.