Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Oscar Palomares: What Was He Thinking?

Oscar Palomares is a photographer based in Barcelona. More of his work can be found on Flickr and Facebook.



Catalunya Square, Barcelona, 2013


This picture was taken last year during the major holidays of Barcelona. In these days in that square you could find differents tents. One of them was "defense of the animals" (basically dogs and cats). Some people were there with their pets and some of them were receiving bags. I observed these elements and the relation of the animals with the people and I thought that maybe something interesting could go, and I started to work for a little bit of time.



Ciutadella Park, Barcelona, 2013

I like to go to Ciutadella Park. It's one of my favourite parks in Barcelona. A lot of times (especially on the weekends) something is happening there. In this case, a Sunday evening, the end of a party day for children was taking place. A great globe with a girl inside soon would rise to sky.



La Habana, 2009

Some years ago, I was in La Habana for a month. I was doing pictures for me and for a Chilean magazine. I wanted to do something about the daily Habana. One day I was in the neighborhood of Centro Habana and I found a great group of girls training for volleyball.  I saw the two girls with similar clothes warming up, doing similar movements and I started to take some pictures. It looked nice.


Catalunya Square, Barcelona, 2014


This is one of my most recent. It was taken last July, in the surrondings of Catalunya Square. I like to come here. Some times you can find interesting situations. Normally in the summer —over the last few years in the evenings— this place is full of Russian tourists waiting a bus to their hotel. Many of them are enjoying holidays in other close beach locations, and they come to Barcelona for a trip day. I saw the girl with the mobile, the jacket in her arm with the same yellow color as the mobile, the shirt... A lot of yellow... And I started to play with the elements. I took some frames until the girl went away with a friend.


Sants, Barcelona, 2012



The traditional Sant Medir celebration (also known as "the sweet celebration") every year fills the streets of Barcelona neighborhoods with candies and delicacies. In the picture some children try to take all the candies they can that are thrown from horses and carriages. Like a lot of people, I usually find much more interesting here on the margins than in the parade itself. In this case I thought that the situation could have potential.


Ronda Universitat, Barcelona, 2012

I found this situation one winter evening when I was close to coming back home. I was taking pictures all evening and was thinking to take the last (until the sun went down). And I found this. Click! Click! Click! Click! And then the girl, her mother (I think), the bus, and the ballon flew.



Raval, Barcelona, 2012

One summer evening I was exploring the Raval streets, trying to found something interesting and I found one boy. He was playing with his basketball. I remember that I had a little time for try to equilibrate the image and play a little bit with the composition... We said goodbye to each other with a smile...


Raval, Barcelona, 2012
Another picture taken in the Raval. I like this neighborhood. Photographically I find its narrow streets really interesting. The light in them, the mix of cultures (maybe it's the most multicultural neighborhood in Barcelona), the life... That Saturday I got up not too late and I was doing pictures for two or three hours. I liked the situation and I worked on it for a while. The final result was a bit better than I expected. Or rather, the fact I waited maybe made it better.


Cathedral Square, Barcelona, 2013


Finally, one of my favourite pictures. I shot it in Cathedral Square, a place which I really like to come to. When I do my usual photo‐walking through the city center, it is rare I don't cross here at some time or other. I like the environment. Much life is here and you never know when you can find something interesting.

As you can imagine, I like complex images (also simple!) —to do them and see them with different elements working at the same time. In this case I tried to be as close as possible (as I do almost always) and integrate the maximum of possible interesting elements... And the final result I don't dislike. I'm explaining all this now, but in the moment everything is more unconscious, more intuitive.

1 comment:

Stan B. said...

Always nice to see a new name making interesting (as opposed to derivative) images- particularly where "street" is concerned !