Wednesday

Took the subway this morning all over the city. Went to the Gaudi (should be called gaudy) Cathedral and decided not to wait in the hugely long line to get in. Shot some photos of this unfinished cathedral which is under perpetual construction.






Then went to the Picasso Museum which was a true adventure. We must have walked in circles for an hour looking for it. Finally found the entrance, but were ready to faint from the heat and humidity.


The subway system is very impressive - every car is air conditioned, clean, and running efficiently. One difference from the US system is that doors to the cars don't open automatically. Eric and I stood dumbly waiting for the door to open until someone showed us the button to push.

Did I mention how hot it is today? It is humid, hot, steamy, muggy, and stifling. Regardless, we keep moving to try and get in as many sights as possible. If we didn't keep gettIng lost (all part of the adventure) we wouldn't be as hot as we are.

In the afternoon we have a four hour session booked with food writer, cookbook author, and photographer Jeff Koehler. Jeff was born in Seattle, but has not lived in the US for twenty years. He did graduate work in theatre in London where he met his Spanish wife and now lives in Barcelona. He has traveled the world, first as a young man seeing unique places and later to work on photography and food assignments in places like Algiers, Morocco, and Zaire. He is very down to earth, easy to talk to, and a wonderful teacher. We started the session at the central food market - much like the Rochester Public Market, but on steroids. Since much of his life's work has involved shooting food, he spent some time explaining his aesthetic when it comes to photographing food - capturing color, texture, and making a statement. I felt quite comfortable with him and asked for lots of help with my camera. He also uses Canon cameras, which made it quite easy for him to show me buttons I never knew existed. I learned so much in the brief afternoon we had together - now I can only hope some of it stays in my head.


We worked on shooting street scenes on La Rambla, pasteries in one of the oldest bakeries, stone and mosaic work, and then set off for the train station to shoot patterns. We share a mutual love of patterns, so we continued chasing down interesting ones at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, a concert hall displaying architecture of the Modernista movement and in natural and man-made forms in Park Guell, designed by Gaudi to include housing, a market, and open park spaces. It was donated by the Guell family to the city and includes Gaudi's signature whimsical and fantastic forms.





We were so exhausted by 7:00 PM that we collapsed in a taxi back to the hotel. I learned more in one afternoon than in the five years I've been doing photography, all thanks to Jeff.
Marcia