madrid

After my friend left, I went on to Madrid for two nights. It was so hot that it was hard to leave the house before 8 p.m.

perch

Something strange about this part of Spain is that there are storks everywhere, and they build nests atop churches. On one stretch of highway, we even saw tall posts with metal baskets for them to build nests in the absence of tall buildings.

dry zone

Where were we? Oh yes, Spain. This is another shot in Burgos, in the archways of the main plaza, where my friend pointed out to me these red lines indicating two of the great floods in Burgos.

besos, Buenos Aires

Today I am leaving Buenos Aires for...an undetermined amount of time. I am sad.



This is what I will miss more than anything in Buenos Aires. And believe me, I will miss a lot.

Burgos

We spent one night in the town of Burgos, which has a small old city that was filled with people out and about, enjoying tapas and wine outside, even though it was really not that warm. I sat out in the main plaza for a long time, just people watching. It is so nice to see town plazas in action, where everyone just hangs out.

more french beaches

I loved this town, St. Jean de Luz, in Basque France. The architecture was somewhat colonial, and the beach was beautiful and tranquil.

the kids are all right

I loved this scene of boys playing soccer in this small, fenced-off courtyard smack dab in the center of the Parte Vieja in San Sebastián.

work update

Here I am, shooting more luxury hotels in San Sebastián. This turned out to be a real nightmare, as most of the hotels were completely booked and I was unable to shoot a lot of rooms. This just meant that I scouted a ton of the smaller hostals and pensíons, which was kind of fun.

happy hour, all the time

This is what we ate at least twice daily in the Basque Country: pintxos. Each item is around two dollars. I ate a lot of octopus, jamón, and washed it back with a lot of beer.



Mmmm...Basque country...

closing time

One of the churches in the Parte Vieja of San Sebastián. This guy is helping to close up at eight p.m.

some kind of celebration

Yes, we were in Spain for the finals of the World Cup--but only sort of. We were in San Sebastián, which is in El Pais Vasco (Basque Country), which has a long history of separatism. They have their own language (Euskara) and all. There was no real celebration in San Sebastián for the victory, just a bunch of dazed tourists from other parts of Spain looking to party. And here they are, celebrating under a separatist banner.

San Fermin

I was really happy to be out of Pamplona. We were here for the Festival of San Fermin, and you know what, I am just not into big, drunken, festivities like I once was. We stayed outside the city (thank goodness) and drove in for the Encierros (running of the bulls) in the mornings. The city smelled like shit, the ground was alternately slick and sticky with beer and urine, and even at seven in the morning, drunken boys were constantly yelling at me, surrounding me, or trying to kiss me.



There was a time in my life when I probably would have enjoyed spending a drunken week in wine-stained garments, sleeping in parks in the daytime and getting trashed in the night...but that time, it appears, has passed.

San Sebastián

I spent a few days in San Sebastián to shoot and write a city guide for a fashion magazine.

I just wanted to spent the whole time on the beach.

biarritz II

I love kids. In hats. With fishing gear. Biarritz is full of kids like this.

divers

Kids in Biarritz, France, jumping into the harbor from this bridge, and taking running leaps from the parking lot behind.

the other fair

After we ran with the bulls, we went further out from the center of Pamplona to see where there was a horse market going on. It was kind of intense. These horses got out of their pen and into the crowd and this guy is herding them back in by whacking them with this stick.



It made me sad but my friend assured me it was just the day that was going to be rough on them. Then they would be headed home with happy families in Basque Country.

pamplona

We drove into Pamplona and ran with the bulls on the opening day of the Festival of San Fermin. The scariest part for me was the fear that I would be pushed down and trampled by all the people.



This is an image of some police officers guarding the bulls who will run the first day. In the lower right corner you can see some of the white-and-red clad revelers.

small towns

The second day we passed through a town called Madrigal de Altas Torres, where Juan likes to shoot photos of men playing petanque in the park. I shot a ton of petanque photos but the light was terrible and I won't process them until I get back to Buenos Aires. The vibe was very nice, though. People kept coming and going, sitting on the sidelines, enjoying the game.

Segovia

We spent the first night in Segovia, a town famous for its two-thousand-year-old aqueduct.




The plaza surrounding the aqueduct is constantly swarming overhead with swallows.

Cooling Off

My friend Juan met me at the airport in Madrid. We rented a car and immediately left the city in an electric-blue Citroen. It was hot and the country reminded me a lot of Northern California--tall trees, roads cut through hills and valleys. We stopped a creek called Boca de Asno to cool off.

an atlantic leap

I took a huge leap of faith across the Atlantic Ocean to travel with a man I met recently.



I hardly slept on the flights over. I was too excited! This is the sunrise over Portugal.

back to DC

Last Sunday, I spent the Fourth of July in Washington, DC. I had an 11-hour layover on my way from Buenos Aires to Madrid. I got to see some beautiful cousins I haven't seen in a few years, and they took me to see one of the newer monuments, the Air Force memorial.



Consider this your Sunday vertical. Many new photos ahead...

crabby

These crabs in Langkawi, Malaysia are about the size of a quarter. They burrow out little holes in the sand, unearthing perfect sand-balls in the process.

meat market II

A butcher stand inside the San Telmo Market.

the view from my window

This is a photo from the summer. We live on a pretty lively street corner. I'm amazed at how fearlessly boys play soccer in the streets with the traffic.



This was shot for a series called Soccer On Holiday for the June issue of Norman Einstein's Magazine.

sleepers

I'm posting a bunch of old photos because I'm currently traveling.

When I first moved to New York, I loved taking photos of people sleeping on the subway. Most of the photos turned out badly because the camera I was using at the time wasn't great in low light. Then, when I upgraded to an SLR, the shutter made such a noise that it was hard to take photos on the sly. But here's one of a guy sleeping on the train to Machu Picchu.



See more of my Sleepers series here.

world cup watching

Porteños gathered to watch the World Cup on a giant screen in Parque Centenario.

say it ain't so

Passersby in the Parque Centenario react to Germany's third goal in Argentina's loss in the World Cup quarterfinals Saturday.

Happy Birthday America!

Somehow I am spending my Fourth of July in Washington, DC. Well, Dulles to be exact. I am on an 11-hour layover from Argentina to Spain--no fireworks for me tonight.

I spent last Independence Day at my friend Shannon's summer home in New Jersey--simultaneously celebrating her birthday. The neighbors all gathered at the lake and shot fireworks from the raft. It was so cozy and spectacular.

i heart my neighborhood, part iv

Along with the many mechanics of my neighborhood, we have a plethora of rusting cars all over the streets. It is one of the reasons why I moved into this neighborhood. I have a thing for rusting cars. These three cars sat at the end of my street for the first month I was there, missing seats and innards but looking as pretty as could be. And then one day all three of them simply vanished.



The city is mysterious like that.

skeletons

Montevideo and Buenos Aires are full of skeletal trees like this, even in the summer. I have been trying for weeks to shoot them, and the result is always a little bit off. But I like this one.

Uruguay ftw

I was in Montevideo when the national team defeated Korea to qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Cup.



I shot the festivities for Norman Einstein's Magazine. The July issue is out today, and that's where you can view more photos.