27-NOV-2011
Collector, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
This man is examining coins for sale at a Sunday flea market in Barcelona’s Placa Real. As he carefully turns the pages of an album, I tried to express the intensity and the passion he brings to the task.
27-NOV-2011
Flea Market, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
Flea markets can make chaotic scenes. I was able to make sense out of this one when I discovered four sets of twin offerings on a single table. The repeated pairings, featuring two dolls, two picture frames, two wicker objects, and two bells, organize what would otherwise be a chaotic image into coherent expression of multiple vintage treasures.
17-NOV-2011
Flea Market, Jaffa, Israel, 2011
The essence of a flea market is variety – and this shop window offers a good example of it. The foreground is filled with kitchen goods, while the middle ground features a decorative elephant, a hat, and two clocks. The background painting of a Middle Eastern figure seated on a cushion and holding a hookah in his lap ties the image together and gives the scene a local flavor.
14-NOV-2011
Headscarves, Aqaba, Jordan, 2011
Mannequin heads emerge from piles of fabrics in this Middle Eastern marketplace. Each wears a different color headscarf, which tells us that this market is in a Muslim country. While the color varies from head to head, the expressions of the mannequins do not, giving the scene an incongruous touch.
27-NOV-2011
Three men and a watch, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
Barcelona’s Placa Real Sunday marketplace is a hive of activity, featuring both approved traders, as well as transient entrepreneurs along its periphery selling whatever they might have on hand. In this case, I found a man trying on a watch, while his friend monitored the deal. I like the way the three hands are linked, creating a focal point for the image.
21-NOV-2011
Shopping street, Side, Turkey, 2011
This street is on a hill. I stood at the top, shooting down at the shops that gradually recede into the distance. The street caters to tourists, and the sales people often sit outside as they try to draw people into their shops. In this scene, there appears to be more salesmen than customers. I like the way to the two salesmen at left are studying me – do they think I am a candidate for a carpet? Or are they simply curious as to why someone would stand in front of them making picture after picture?
11-SEP-2011
Pork pot, near Cajas National Park, Ecuador, 2011
A roadside market, just outside of Cajas National Park, offered a pot full of freshly made simmering port. I photographed one of the cooks stirring the pot, using a wideangle lens to stress the detail within the pot as well as the body language of the woman about to serve a tasting to our group. It is the lean of her head, echoing the thrust of the paddle, that give the image its strength and cohesion.
13-SEP-2011
Bulk food, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
One of Cuenca’s larger markets sells bulk foods such as rice, beans, and corn in huge sacks. I looked for color contrasts, and found two women and a child wearing bright red clothing. Surrounded by huge sacks of food, they eat as they wait for customers.
15-JUL-2010
Fifth Avenue shop, New York City, New York, 2010
A special event was being held at the Omega store on Fifth Avenue – it was nearly 9:00 pm, and people were still passing through the doors of this upscale watch shop. Using a long telephoto lens from across the street, I was able to layer the image with passing traffic, passersby in silhouette, a show window featuring a glittering display watches framed within Omega’s commemoration of a 1975 space flight, and finally a few people inside the store itself. The image expresses multiple ideas: wealth, glamour, and a touch of history.
02-JUN-2010
Shops, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2010
The architectural traditions of Santa Fe go back into time, and often the historic nature of Santa Fe’s buildings is emphasized by primitive looking archaic design. Many shops are housed in this structure, which deliberately displays distressed adobe, a crudely defined sign, and aged shuttered windows. I have no idea if what we see here is a historic structure reborn as a commercial enterprise, or if this is a clever piece of new commercial architecture designed to look historic. I photograph it at sunset, making it all the more romanticized. Whatever the answers, such questions can prod our imaginations.
24-OCT-2009
Choices, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009
Istanbul offers one of the most exotic and varied marketplaces in the world. The Grand Bazaar is 600 years old and holds thousands of shops. The exotic Spice Bazaar is almost as famous. This small shop offers tourists hundreds of felt hats – the choices seem infinite. I made this image by night with a 14mm wideangle focal length stretching the choices on hand.
24-OCT-2009
Shop Window, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009
Shop windows are best photographed at night, when there are fewer distracting reflections. They become even more interesting when you are able to find people in them. This particular shop window features not only an astounding variety of ceramic objects, but the proprietors as well. It tells the story not only of an amazingly beautiful Turkish craft, but of a business as well.
