It never rains in Cordoba. At least that’s what my friend Alistair and I thought when we took 24 hours out of Madrid to photograph the Semana Santa processions there this Easter Wednesday.
By 11pm that night, we were exhausted and soaking wet, having spent the entire day running around town only to discover that there was no way the vigines and accompanying processions were leaving the churches in a little bit of rain. We asked a barman what we’d done to deserve such bad luck. ‘Bueno,’ he said, ‘It’s rained here on Easter Wednesday for the last four years.’
Great. Easter dates change every year, yet it always manages to rain on that Wednesday, Miercoles Santo. Still, there was plenty to photograph – disappointed, damp Cordobans primarily…
… and the odd happy few that were sensible enough to stay in the bars…
For more Cordoba-Easter-Rain street photos from our damp, yet still immensely enjoyable 24 hours in Cordoba, check out my photos on Flickr, and more great images here, from my fellow photographer Alistair.
luke
21 Mar 08 at 2:22 pm
Great photos!
Aren’t many of the Spanish catholics just as miserable on a sunny day during Easter? Spain seems to focus more on the pain and death side than the joy of resurrection: more self-flagellation than chocolate bunnies.
Jona
21 Mar 08 at 3:22 pm
Hi Ben, can I just ask what camera you use for your photos? I love the look.
Ben
21 Mar 08 at 4:22 pm
Jona – A Canon 350D with 10-22 wide angle zoom lens.
Juanjo
21 Mar 08 at 4:36 pm
Excellent photos- B&W great choice for the subject. Surely, I didn’t see Hillary Clinton in the place she should be- behind bars?
)
BrianA
21 Mar 08 at 4:46 pm
You were lucky – the paper had a picture today of hail stones lying in the street in Málaga. Denia normally has rain for their Fallas but escaped by one day this year. Great photos Ben, B&W good for rainy days
Jill (la vieja de la manga)
21 Mar 08 at 6:13 pm
The rain is governed by the moon apparently. But why all the way to Cordoba? Wednesday was warm and clear here in Cartagena – half the distance
Jill (la vieja de la manga)
21 Mar 08 at 6:14 pm
The fotos are excellent Ben.
Mrmark
21 Mar 08 at 10:23 pm
I reckon that’s a fake photoshop job – look at the floor. It’s far too clean!
ValenciaSon
22 Mar 08 at 1:38 am
@ Mrmark: cause they’re at Starbucks.
@Ben: Nice photos. I almost asked if you used TRI-X film.
Ben
22 Mar 08 at 7:19 am
Jill – Cordoba is just an hour and 40 mins on the AVE, it takes a lot longer to get to you I’m afraid!
MrMark – It was still early!
VS – Yes, you don’t often see grainy pics these days – it was very low light, so a high ISO led to a bit of noise, that comes out looking OK in black and white.
Brian – yes, B and W is great for rainy days!
luke
22 Mar 08 at 10:56 am
@Ben “A Canon 350D with 10-22 wide angle zoom lens.”
I’ve been using the EF-S 10-22 lens on my 400D for a while now and I know how close you must have got to some of those subjects; very brave! Normally people take pictures of people in public with an extreme telephoto so they can get candid shots and avoid embarrassment.
HF
22 Mar 08 at 11:31 am
Was wondering – Do the people mind being photographed by a stranger? Do you ask permission?
Ben
22 Mar 08 at 12:26 pm
HF and Luke – 2 factors here – first of all some of the photos are close crops of only a section of the image – for example I was a couple of metres from the guys at the bar and the camera wasn’t pointing directly at them, so they probably wouldn’t have know I was photographing them as such. That’s the beauty of the ultra wide angle approach – you can put people in the edge of the frame.
Secondly, having a couple of Fino’s every now and again during the afternoon wander around Cordoba helps one not feel so bad about pointing a camera at people
Dutch courage I suppose!
And finally, I did get quite a lot of dirty/funny looks that I only noticed later when editing the pics! See if you can spot the moody looking people that have ‘caught’ me in each of these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spanishben/tags/caught/show/
frank
22 Mar 08 at 12:38 pm
“Normally people take pictures of people in public with an extreme telephoto so they can get candid shots and avoid embarrassment.”
Indeed, my favourite weapon of stealth is my 100-400, people don’t even know they have been shot! Not everyone likes having their photo taken. I imagine with a 10-22, you’d have to be in their face to get anything useful.
luke
22 Mar 08 at 1:00 pm
@Ben. I’ve done the same trick with that lens.
@HF. I believe you don’t need permission to photograph people in public spaces but not privately owned ‘public’ spaces like shopping malls. However, if you use the photo for advertising then you should try to pay them. If they are used in newspapers then you normally don’t have to pay anyone. But I guess the law varies in different countries.
Hola Valencia
22 Mar 08 at 4:42 pm
We went to see the Cabalgata as well – honestly I have to say it’s creepy!