Searching for the Essence of the Alpujarras (Week -2)

After a successful trip to Naples searching for the essence of Sanita, a region of the city, I thought I would try out my rekindled skills again in the Alpujarras mountains of Spain.  From the start of the trip I did not feel in the zone and found myself taking tourist snaps and focusing on the subject of my images, rather than the essence of the city of Orgiva, where we were staying.

We started off by photographing the runners in a marathon which provided a spectacle rather than much opportunity to capture the essence of the place.

I continued in this vein finding myself being attracted to architectural shots of the landscape.

As we neared the end of our time in Spain I took a couple of shots that I think better captured the spirit of the place however I have to say this was a very unsuccessful trip from a photographic point of view.

At the end of Informing Contexts I wrote about my need for some head space before embarking on the Final Major Project. I found myself remembering the words of Cemre, our tutor in Surfaces and Strategies, who had said to me that maybe I should put the camera down and spend my time thinking.  I often remind myself of this advice.  Sometimes, I think rather than ploughing on taking poor shots and losing my mojo in the process, I should take a break!