Faces of Spain

I did an architectural travel course to Spain last winter. Same golden opportunity offered by the school to trot around a country steeped in its own unique blend of history and culture as did my previous journey to India.

Armed with my own camera this time, I zealously took 3000 photos in 3 weeks, covering mostly architectural settings and the lively members of this expedition.

Upon returning, I faithfully filtered out 1000 of those that documented our journey to share among my tour mates, and condensed them further to just under 180 for the general public for an overall impression of Spain.

One friend responded in return:

"it seems most all your pictures are for coffee table book or some architecture magazine. they are cold. what i mean by raw reality is nature in pure form, not contrived, not planned. people are from nature. for example, are there any beggars or prostitutes in your pictures. is there anyone sleeping under bridge or on cardboard. the children seem mostly from distance so can't really "see" what they are thinking or who they are, and it seem again more about color and cold things like capturing contrast. touristy pictures are boring. what is thrilling (to me) is what's really going on in life, what's happening below the facade. if i remember correctly, kinda like the picture(s) you took of/with the children that came running up to you in the street, that was scratching the surface or raw, spontaneous, pure. that is moving in the direction. to have these chance to see life like this, and capture these moments, requires change in your thinking. need to delve into places that maybe you are afraid to go, then can start to see, and have chance to capture. sometimes many times it's so amazing and you become so lost in moment that you don't even think to take picture. that to me is beauty."

Thanks to him, i went back and looked through my 3000 pics again, recalling my endeavors to capture not picturesque Spanish settings but the 'raw' response of the people in it - stripped-down, spontaneous, in-the-face moments of real people in real but indiscriminate situations, almost as if the images were taken inadvertently by a passing bee...



I've compiled these 45 photos to re-introduce my own version of Spain, liking them for their instinctive Iberian identity and their power to narrate hidden stories amidst their ordinariness.

My quest was more limited than in India though. Cos in Europe, it's wise to be discreet.