Dancing Dots

A Madrid flea market find.

According to eHow Spanish gypsies were responsible for bringing the flamenco dress into popular culture.

Critical Mass--comments

Following the judging of Photolucida's Critical Mass--in which my entry passed the first level of 175, but didn't end up in the final 50--the organizers kindly sent out comments that jurors had toward the submitted work. Here are those comments.

* Close but not enough individuality.

* Entry is a bit dead in comparison to the others. Great application of the tones and graininess to the subject matter and yes you have some wonderfully tight compositions for some incredible architectural finds, the edge of nature amidst only adds.

* i find these too decorative and with uneven style/printing. others may love them. i would tighten up the printing and lose the vignetting while keeping the simple and graphic-- as some are. bk (Me: Maybe I shoulda mentioned the toy camera vignetting issue)

* Love the compositions. Wish I could see the actual prints as the process sounds very interesting.

* Lovely series! Thanks for sharing it through Critical Mass.

* Nice work. I have a hunch that seeing them on a display does not do them justice.

* poetic

* Very nice!

* You definitely captured the turn of the last century sensibility with some very contemporary subjects. I was completely involved, inthralled, captured. Sigh. Lovely.

Dreams

Yes it's a business, but as to what it is in business to do I have no idea--well sure the business of dreams, that seems explicitly stated. Photographs are often an invitation to speculation, and in this case it comes with a telephone number to assist you in pinning down the speculation. Note that the number is in Madrid before picking up your phone.

Bowl of Hygieia

Another image from Madrid. This was indicating that the business was a pharmacy. According to Medhunters the cup is called the bowl of Hygieia, from which we get the term hygiene. Hygieia was the daughter of Asciepius, the god of medicine in Greek mythology. Hygieia was the goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation. The snake became a symbol of Asciepius as well as for Hygieia.

Madonna Obscured

I spent most of last week in Spain both in Barcelona and Madrid. While strolling about the huge Madrid flea market on Sunday I spotted this Madonna with obscured face decorating a nearby building. While it may be my own preconception of the Spanish Catholic culture, nevertheless this image seems to reflect some of the conflict that is inevitable in most free societies.