Week 43 - Life’s Illusions

Lone Traveler

Each time we click the shutter, there is an unsaid intention. We are chasing something. Capture the energy of a city or a unique moment within it. Reveal the elegance of architecture or mystery of the night. We broadly categorize such interests as street, architecture, and night photography. On a brief visit to Cordoba, Spain, I had the intent and opportunity to consider each and did so.   

Of course, on any journey, our predispositions come with us. Over the two days, I recorded scenes of busy cafes, narrow streets at night, and the intricacies of Islamic and Moorish architecture. And yet, it is a simple and non-descript landscape that most resonated with me. It is a scene that could be anywhere. It was no longer travel photography. 

The irony is the extent to which we carve out a slice of life that meets our vision—an idealized view. It was not a quiet hillside view overlooking a river but the center of a bustling city, surrounded by tourists on the historic Roman Bridge. We hear the sounds of street vendors and traffic, not the quiet buzzing of insects. 

In black and white, the arch of the Río Guadalquivir leads through the frame. In color, it loses shape as it becomes a reflection of the sky. The absence of color allows our eye to find the smallest element of the image, an out-of-focus bird skimming the water's surface. 

f8 1/15 sec ISO 200 October 30, 2022