The bells woke me at 5:30. Then again at 6. Then the swallows--almost the only birds in town-- started calling. More bells, more swallows. I finally got up at 6:30, threw on some clothes, grabbed the tripod and headed out to shoot. I watched the swallows swooping around the plazas near their nests in the church eaves; saw the calico cats getting fed scraps in the alleyways. An old man came up, asked where I was from. "Americano!" he boomed, grinning and shaking my hand for a really long time.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
Pine-lined road, Korcula, Croatia.
Here's another look at charming Korcula. This is probably the windiest part of town (see previous post). While walking around this area, I saw perseverent cafe owners sweeping up leaf litter and bits of paper that the wind would constantly drive over.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
View of old town from the city walls, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
What is there to say about Dubrovnik? It's amazing. An old town balanced on the edge of the coast, surrounded by walls and fortifications you can walk along... a rocky beach south of town where you can swim in the blue-green Adriatic. Giant baroque churches, cafes spilling out into the squares, tiny restaurants squeezed into alleys....a few museums, a few stray dogs, a couple of incongurous orange trees near the monastery. And that's Dubrovnik.
Painted lantern, Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Rules in old town Dubrovnik prohibit flashy signs; instead businesses put up painted lanterns like this one. No, I don't know if that's supposed to be a crab, a worm or a croissant. I just knew that there were a gaggle of these lanterns begging .. "Follow me.."
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
View over Korcula, Croatia
Korcula. One of my favorite places ever. A tiny nub of an island, scored with narrow streets, each one hiding little gems: a kindly old man feeding stray cats; narrow covered walkways arching over alleys, soaring church towers; a lonely outside bar with a large sign "BarDiscoteque" to make up for the fact that no one is there... and the wind. Almost a gale blowing up the strait, chasing you down the street and into quiet alleys to escape.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Mountains near Machu Picchu, Peru
One of my favorite things about traveling is learning all the things no one thought to mention. Take Machu Picchu, for example. Everyone has seen a million pictures of the famous ruins, but did anyone ever tell you what it looks like around the ruins? Stand there on the ridge that leads down to them and turn to the right. Do you have any idea what you'd see? Well, I guess it's a giveaway now: you'd see this. Incredible, cloud-forest covered mountains, steep and craggy, with fog and clouds snagged on the corners. The ridge where Machu Picchu sits is surrounded by a steep river valley on three sides. Well worth the trip, if only to see what the National Geographic never showed you.
Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington.
I bet I could have told you this was Costa Rica, or the Amazon, and you would have believed me... it has such an exotic, jungly look. But its just little old Olympic National Park, a jungle right here in the US of A. Its tragically cliched now, but Proust said "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." I almost agree, but in reality I think its a little more complex than that, at least for someone making images. You need to figure out how to not just see, but to see the picture. What you perceive as a pretty scene isnt't enough-- the film does not know that's a pretty picture. The film only knows what you choose to show it, and in that sense, you need to find a way to see the picture, not the scene...and then photograph that.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Termini Station, Rome, Italy.
I just love having a camera in my phone. I'm still getting the hang of it; of even remembering that I can just knock off an image pretty much anywhere without having to think too much about it. The downside, of course, is that it probably would have been a really good idea to shoot some images here with my 'real' camera, of a quality that someone could actually publish. But I was in a rush, and had the sudden urge to capture the glaring lights and people either rushing through the station or standing there dumbly, staring at the big board, distracted and confused.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
El Capitan and Half Dome at sunset, Yosemite, California.
Not sure I really have anything to say about this one. It's just a pretty picture. I don't use colored filters; the light really was that color, or something very like it. Reciprocity failure takes care of the rest.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Santos in a church in Santiago Atitlan, Highlands, Guatemala.
We were taken up a hill, down a small alley to an nondescript house. Inside, once our eyes had adjusted to the darkness, we saw it. A small wooden Mayan god in the center of the room, looking not unlike a Spaniard, with a beard and tall felt hat. Scarves were wrapped around his neck, quetzal bills folded around the scarf as offerings. The old men who collected our 'tributes' (a few quetzals to enter, a lot more to get a photo), sipped coca cola and regarded us with shy smiles through the thick incense.
In another part of town, the Catholic church, every wall lined with wooden santos dressed in bright gowns and festive scarves.
Catholicism is passed though a very heavy filter here; it has been altered as much by the Mayan religion as those local customs it supposedly replaced.
In another part of town, the Catholic church, every wall lined with wooden santos dressed in bright gowns and festive scarves.
Catholicism is passed though a very heavy filter here; it has been altered as much by the Mayan religion as those local customs it supposedly replaced.
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