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The Photographic Hunter
The photographer has the spirit of a hunter. You leave home with the intention of catching a good prize, and you don’t mind covering hundreds of kilometers or traveling to truly remote places just to capture unusual or striking scenes. Sometimes I research locations with potential, and a considerable number of the photographs I’ve shared have come from that kind of planning. But I have to admit, the most thrilling way to hunt for a photograph is through pure exploration, letting yourself wander, trusting your instinct, and getting lost along roads and paths you wouldn’t normally take. When you stumble…
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The Legacy of Leica
I remember that when I was younger, I was always drawn to a certain type of rangefinder camera used by some professional photographers. They were far more attractive, compact, and comfortable than the bulky SLRs of the time. Those cameras turned out to be Leica M series models, though I didn’t know it back then. When the first digital Leica M was released, I was completely smitten. To me, it was the most beautiful photographic camera on the market, but the idea of owning one felt inconceivable. It was simply out of reach. The first time I ever saw a…
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The Abandoned River
For many years, the river was my main source of photographic inspiration. On weekends, I used to take hiking routes along the Sor River, which is relatively close to home. It’s a natural area I’ve walked through hundreds of times, and I never get tired of visiting it. I owe much of my photographic experience to that place, and some of my best shots were taken there. These days, I’m in full exploration mode, and what motivates me is covering miles and discovering new places. That’s why rivers have taken a bit of a back seat, reserved for occasional moments,…
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Honorable Exceptions
When I drove the stretch of the N-120 between Logroño and Burgos, it didn’t strike me as particularly attractive, but to be fair, the day was gloomy, overcast, light rain had just begun, and I was half-asleep, so perhaps I’m not being entirely fair. Still, it’s a pleasant road with very little traffic. The landscape, though not especially varied, is agreeable, and the pilgrims walking along the roadside with their enormous backpacks add another small point of interest. Throughout those kilometers, I didn’t find much that made me want to pull over and use up more of my film. Maybe…
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Discovering Castilla y León
Castilla y León is an autonomous community I hardly knew at all. Although I had crossed it a few times on my way to Madrid and visited some of its cities, Ávila, Segovia, Salamanca, León, and so on, I always traveled by highway, and the image I had of it was very poor and full of clichés. I imagined it as an immense, flat, arid, and dry land where, honestly, I couldn’t picture myself living. But this year I’ve started to truly discover it, and although I’ve only scratched the surface, I have to admit it has completely stolen my…
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A Memory for a Lifetime
One of the places that has made the biggest impression on me in recent years is Canfranc. Ever since I first saw its station in a Christmas commercial, many years ago, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to stand in that spot. A building like that seemed unreal to me, more like something out of a Disney film than a train station hidden in the middle of the Aragonese Pyrenees. That’s why, when I finally found myself in front of it after so many years, I experienced one of the most emotional and intense moments I can remember.…
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On a Grand Scale
Although I like to switch themes with each new entry, today I’m going to stick with the industrial side of things a little longer. Anyone who’s passed through As Pontes de García Rodríguez in recent years will have come across this enormous titan. It’s a bucket-wheel excavator from the old lignite mine. At one time, there were as many as seven of them, though in the final stage of the mine’s operation only five remained in use. Today, we’re so used to all kinds of visual stimuli that a structure of this size and complexity might not seem all that…
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Life and Its Changes
Since I was born in 1977, I’ve been living in Galicia. I grew up surrounded by its landscapes, its culture, and its traditions. I’ve always felt supported and loved by its people, and I’ve enjoyed its incredible cuisine, its festivals, and its retranca, that unique, subtle sense of humor. Galicia is a land with a strong personality that slowly takes hold of you, and in the end, everything that happens here feels deeply personal. Since those early years, everything has evolved, and our way of life has had to adapt. We’ve gone from black-and-white televisions with a single channel, like the…
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Photographic Suspicion
I have to admit that being passionate about photography comes with its fair share of complications, and one of them has to do with the social aspect. If you’re into cycling, no one’s going to stop you and ask, “Hey! Why are you riding that bike?” Likewise, if you’re out for a run, no one questions why you’re doing it. But if you’re carrying a camera and taking photos, things get a bit trickier. And today’s photo is a good example of that. I took it in Asturias, just before reaching Pola de Lena. Like many times before, it happened…
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Retracing the Path
This is perhaps one of the most minimalist photographs I’ve taken to date. It shows a windmill used for water extraction, one of those elements I absolutely love to photograph, and something that could easily be added to the list of recurring subjects in my photographic archive. You won’t find them in my area, probably because it rains so much, so coming across one is always a small celebration. The day I found this one, on the way to Ourense, I practically slammed on the brakes… luckily there was no traffic! But a photo like that can’t be missed. It’s…
