Photos de Barcelona 1

Some memorable photos from my trip to Barcelona (July 31-August 15)


First two pictures are me in the Parque de la Ciutadella



Me at the fountain on the Plaza Real


Me in an inner courtyard of a former monestary now an art center for the University of Barcelona.

This summer in Barcelona, there is an exhibition going on: Barcelona back then. They take old photos, blow them up huge (as you see here on the Plaza San Jaime near the cathedral) and put them on the street so you can stand behind them for an odd effect of old superimposed on new. It's better to be there. Right here is a motorcade process with Generalíssimo Franco in the 1960's.

View of the Eixemple neighborhood from the Plaza de Cataluña.


The next two photos are in the Eixemple on Manzana de la Discordia, a block where there are several famous modernist buildings by Antoni Gaudí, of which Casa Batlló and Casa Amatller.

Walker Evans

Today, I decided to escape from my vacation. I needed to clear my head bigtime. I guess you can't blame me if you read my SOS Parents post. So, on a whim, I went to the Cincinnati Art Museum, and discovered a wonderful exhibition on the famous American photographer, Walker Evans. His career spanned 50 years from 1928 to 1973. Strangely enough, I had actually seen many of these snapshots before even discovering the name of the artist who had made them. They have really become part of our everyday culture, especially his series on the Great Depression (1933-1936). Evans produced several series on themes which took him several years to produce: 1930's Cuba, voyage through the south sea islands, Gothic revival houses, men's fashion in the 40's, factories in America, Chicago, and color accidents just to name of few. Most of these themes were originally comissioned to him by patrons, Fortune magazine, or even the US government. As you can see, his pictures filled with searing irony convincingly give insight into the realities of the different worlds he encounters on his voyages. Personally, what touched me most, which coincides with my current sullen mood of imminent tragedy, was his expressed intention to document and freeze forever realities which could disappear at any time (lower Manhattan row houses, painted stock cars, dilapidated old barns) as well give a voiced to silenced marginalized peoples on the wrong side of history. The American archetypes he is able to capture whether they be urban squalor or the fading opulence of the rural south immortalize him. Here, I have found many of his famous photos and just simply the ones that mark me most.
If you get to Cincinnati this summer, do go to see this exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Academy





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Les sept doigts de la main

Traces - Les sept doigts de la main

Check out this circus troop that I saw last week at Jardin Fruitier de Laquenexy with my friend, Heidi. Many of them worked for Cirque de Soleil.
I have not been so amused for a real long time. I thought my circus days had long passed. The energy, the emotion, the talent, the magic.... I'm speechless. The jumps, falls, climbs, whirls, cartwheels, sprints... I'm in awe... How can people do those things with their human body? twist in two, do the splits, hold their entire weight on their finger. My God, what can't they do, really? Add to that, singing, dancing, and playing 10 musical instruments each. Definitely worth seeing again, again and again.

http://www.google.fr/images?hl=fr&q=les+sept+doigts+de+la+main+images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=APISTb3QL4Kr8AaDz42LDg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQsAQwAA


Rontay Merquiades