The city of València gets again an important fashion show: CLEC Fashion Festival. Some years ago, Valencia Fashion Week, a public-financed event, was cancelled due to budget cuts. With economic problems all around the spend in fashion seemed superficial and completely useless. As a matter of fact, it was conceived as a platform to help Valencian designers to try and sell their collections, but as a matter of fact, they just could show them. Sales were really insignificant, so it was condemned when the government changed of sign.
But this new show is completely privately funded (even when the spectacular venue where was celebrated is public, the Hemisfèric, in City of Arts and Sciences) and that may grant their progress. However, it’s just two days and an important part of the shown pieces were alredy shown. But it’s affordable, it’s interesting, it includes gastronomy and may help to improve the commercial side of local creators. All of this, of course, if coronavirus crisis doesn’t get everything completely stopped.
February 21st and 22nd 2020 were the days for this CLEC Fashion Festival who had some consolidated designers like Francis Montesinos or Miquel Suay, and other like Visori or Isabel Sanchís, really great but less known yet.
I let here some classified galleries of the most interesting catwalks. They may be different than you expect, but there was no straight path: the runway was completely circular.
Francis Montesinos
[foogallery id=”1982″]
Miquel Suay
[foogallery id=”1988″]
Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada
[foogallery id=”1995″]
If you are interested in fashion, please, contact me with a mail to sergi@archerphoto.eu or Whatsapp to +34 644459753 . Check my Instagram @archerphoto :)
Spain has a lot of interesting cities, but perhaps you haven’t been yet to Valencia, a nice city with lots of interest based in culture, nature and food. With great weather. Take a look to some images. Here you have 4 reasons to visit Valencia.
1. Food: You’ve read about paella. But you haven’t really tasted what it is. Lots of restaurants are claiming they know how to make it. When you arrive here you’ll discover it’s not what you thought, but much, much better. You’ll discover lots of other interesting foods, like horchata, fideuà or all i oli.
2. Architecture and culture. You’ve been watching some of the futuristic architecture of Valencia in some movies and TV, but we’ve got also impressive buildings like the Llotja de la Seda, best example of Gothic civil architecture and lots of Art Noveau, some Baroque, Rationalism, and some of the best gardens in Europe. And great museums.
3. Nightlife. The good weather invites people to go out. And you’re in a city with no slopes. You can take a walk any night, watch some places and have a drink wherever. Cool places and excellent restaurants. And there are also lot of affordable places if you’re not a gourmet.
I hope you’ve liked this post with 4 reasons to visit Valencia. If you come here and need pics, please contact me. I can show you the place. Mail’s sergi@archerphoto.eu. If you want to follow me in Instagram, @archerphoto.
Of course, València is no paradise. Just a nice place to visit. Perhaps another day I will write a text abouit negative aspects of the city :)
Photographers in Valencia have an interesting city to attack.It’s not Chicago, it’s not Rome, it’s not Berlin, but it has a number of interesting places.Actually, enough.I usually walk very often by Ruzafa (Russafa in Valencian) and around the Ensanche.Although there are many people who do not distinguish them, they are quite different.Ruzafa was a not integrated village in the city until 1877, and that had its own structure of streets of Arab origin. Nowadays it’s adapted to urban planning, but it happened over the years.Its blocks are not regular and it is not conceived, like the Ensanche, as an expansion of the city on previously there were orchards. A photographer in Ruzafa can have a great time.
The expansions, copied from the planning that takes place in Chicago, arrive in Valencia through the Barcelona reference, but on a smaller scale.Goerlich, the municipal architect, will be responsible for the city’s expansion, which, once the walls were demolished, was totally unavoidable.
A part of the Ensanche within Ruzafa
The checkerboard structure of the expansion, which had in the initial plans, with large interior spaces with gardens and a city really conceived to be enjoyed, was divided with a diagonal avenue.The internal spaces to each block are now blocked with the construction of buildings that break the original space and very often the aforementioned interior spaces are parkings.Permits were even granted to build more heights than originally thought.All in all, the Ensanche neighborhood (or Eixample) is one of the most interesting in architectural terms.
Ruzafa, on the other hand, is a more charismatic neighborhood and, after a few years in which it was experiencing a certain degradation, it was time for its gentrification.Now it suffers a certain saturation as a leisure area.Its value, which was already on the rise, is propelled because the biggest shortage that it had, which was the total absence of green areas, is compensated nowadays by the commissioning of the Central Park , a project that recovers contaminated lands occupied industrially by RENFE much longer than necessary.Good news, of course, for a photographer for Ruzafa.
Ruzafa lives with a certain schizophrenia its evolution. On the one hand new shops and leisure establishments are installed, while trying to resist some traditional shops.In the middle of everything, some other companies pass.A constant flow.
Leisure areas and Ruzafa
The problem of leisure areas is common in Valencia: the good weather and the habits of the people make them often stay on the street, next to the entertainment venues, during the night, generating a quantity of noise and discomfort that has changed by different areas of the city, which are being classified as Acoustically Saturated Areas.
In any case, the administrative division of the City Council contributes to the confusion between Ruzafa and Ensanche.The district is named Ensanche, but includes Ruzafa, Pla del Remei and Gran Vía. Ruzafa, in turn, includes a part of the Ensanche (of what would be the checkerboard structure) but not the other.The historical reason is that, in 1811, the town of Ruzafa included those territories. When the urbanization operation was carried out, it was more practical to attend to criteria of efficiency than not to think about who each land belonged to.
I’m Sergi Albir, I’m a professional photographer.If you want to contact me for photo sessions you can send me a Whatsapp to +34 644459753 or an email to sergi@archerphoto.eu
Some more images taken by this photographer in Ruzafa.
The fever for Game of Thrones has gone deep throughout the world, so the locations of some of the episodes have seen an increase in tourist visits.So, suddenly, I was surprised to visit Mereen.Or Peniscola, as you like it.The scenes shot there are not amongst the climatic peak of the series, but the truth is that the place itself is frankly impressive.And I had it very close to Valencia, in the province of Castellon.You can read this article in Spanish- Puedes leer este artículo en español.
Peniscola (Peníscola in Catalan, Peñíscola in Spanish) is a town with two well-distinguished parts: on the one hand a well preserved old town, crowned with a medieval castle on its top, and on the other an apartments hecatomb typical of the uncontrolled urban explosion that extends to along the beach.The magnetism of Peniscola, of course, in its old part. The castle of Pope Luna (XIII century, XVIth century fortification) is a jewel that reminded me in certain aspects to that of Edinburgh.But it is likely that it was above all because of the feeling of exhaustion for so much.In spite of that, it’s worth it.
By the way, that the link of the castle with Scotland is not just an idea of mine.There is a plaque commemorating that Benedict XIII, Pope Luna, granted permission for the inauguration of Saint Andrews, the first university in Scotland (and which I was able to attend years ago for an English course).
Not only the people of Game of Thrones were seen around here.Some Spanish series, such as El Ministerio del Tiempo (recommended) or El Chiringuito de Pepe (I can not recommend it, once I saw three minutes and I got bored), or movies like El Cid , Tierra or Blink also experienced their earrings.More info here .
The places where Game of Thrones was filmed are, in general, public, and they had cars, fences (they were about to start local festivals) and / or posters in the middle, so the photos in those locations, those that lacked, in addition, all the elements of decoration, were totally absurd.
For the rest, we fell on the dates when the Festival de la Chancla y la Tapa (something like Flip-flops and tapa festival) were held in town.Although if you completed the circuit of bars you received an impressive prize, I must say that we were not able to complete such a challenge during our short stay.The tapas were good, without a doubt.But between there were many locals to visit and the titanic effort did not have a fair payment (if you had not noticed before the jocular tone about the prize, I reveal it here: a pair of flip flops is what they gave you), we simply could not accomplish the task.
There are no crows, but owls and hawks
The Artillery Park is a garden attached to the castle where you suddenly find some owls and hawks.This is the Refuge of Raptors, which houses and exhibits birds raised in captivity or wounded until they are ready to be released.
Peniscola is, without a doubt, an interesting place to visit.Other sites that I like are London , Barcelona, Lisbon or Bratislava .Is it the “L” essential for me to like a city?Actually, no: Vitoria, Madrid or Santiago also caught my interest.
In case you’re wondering, I took these pictures with the Samsung NX500 that was a bit weird.She was not feeling comfortable almost any 32GB card and she gets very silly.
If you need professional photographs, you can send me a message to sergi@archerphoto.eu or Whatsapp at +34 644459753.
Photos and text of this entire website are the property of Sergi Albir, except for a specific case in point.Reproduction prohibited in any medium except explicit written authorization.
A guest post: Nadia Alba writes about Lisbon and I put the photos.So we share the work.
This summer we decided to visit Portugal.There are so many beautiful things to see there… Although in this post I will focus on its most representative neighborhoods.Some of our friends had already traveled to the Portuguese capital and they all said that we would love it.“Lisbon is very beautiful and there are great places to eat,” was the phrase we heard most.What they forgot to say is the amount of slopes that it has, as well as the curious pavement floor that characterizes its most emblematic areas, but that shatters anyone’s feet.I have to say it is worth suffering because the place is wonderful.Luckily, I checked before I packed my suitcase, and I came to the conclusion that this time my heels had to stay at home.
Portuguese Pavement.
This land, known as “Portuguese pavement”, has its origins in 1755. After an earthquake devastated the city, the Marquis of Pombal, the prime minister of King Jose I of Portugal, “the Reformer”, ordered the reconstruction of the road with the rubble which had left the catastrophe.Today you can enjoy the beautiful mosaics that cobblestones form throughout the old part of the capital.
La Baixa
Lisbon downtown: commercial area. It starts at Praça dos Restauradores ( Restauradores Square) and ends at the impressive Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square).Here we could contemplate the sunset from the 360º viewpoint located at the top of the Arco do Triunfo da Rua Augusta (Triumphal Arch of Augusta Street).
Arco do Triunfo da Rua Augusta.
Already at night, we visited the Elevador de Santa Justa (Santa Justa’s elevator), which also offers excellent views of the whole city.The panorama is fantastic from this neogothic structure of 45 meters high, which was built in iron in 1900 and connects the lower and upper parts of the city.Over the years, it has ceased to be as functional as originally, to become more of a tourist attraction.
Elevador de Santa Justa.
From Santa Justa’s Elevator.
Chiado and Bairro Alto
Chiado is an elegant and bohemian area.Here Portuguese writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries met.Now it’s full of well-known brand stores and coffee shops.Many of them have preserved the aesthetics of the premises of the early twentieth century, both outside and inside.The combination of the new and the traditional is spectacular.
Praça Luís de Camões, one of the stages of the Carnation Revolution, marks the limits of the Chiado and Bairro Alto districts.
Praça Luís de Camões.
The Bairro Alto represents the most alternative Lisbon and is located in the highest part of the city.If you are brave you can walk up its slopes, or if you prefer, you can take the tram or the elevator.Its steep streets full of facades with graffiti are filled with people of all kinds looking for fun at night.
La Alfama
This old quarter of fishermen and cradle of the fado, has a special charm that is perceived when walking through its streets.It is located at the foot of Castelo de São Jorge (Saint George’sCastle)and among itsold houses isCasa dos Bicos(Beaks House),with an original stone façade in the form of a pyramid, which was built in 1523. Currently it is housingthe Jose Saramago’s foundation.
28 tram in Praça Luís de Camões.
In the evening, we took the famous tram 28 from the Doctor António de Sousa de Macedo square, located in the Bairro Alto, to climb to the neighborhood of Alfama.The tram ride is a fun and enjoyable experience in Lisbon.It’s hard to believe that their wooden wagons climb their slopes at the speed they do.Sometimes they pass through streets so narrow that if you take your hand out the window you almost touch the wall of the houses.The fact is that we did not reach the end of the journey.We decided to get off at the Sé deLisboa (Lisboa Cathedral), the capital’s cathedral and its oldest church.It was built in the 12th century and has survived several earthquakes.We went back on foot while watching the typical Portuguese restaurants and bars, which offer the best Fado shows.
Sé de Lisboa.
Belém
Located west of Lisbon and in front of the Tagus River, it was one of the neighborhoods we liked the most.The Torrede Belém (Belém Tower) and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jeronimos Monastery) stand out.
Torre de Belém.
Both buildings, dating from the sixteenth century and Manueline Gothic style, are declared World Heritage.Seeing them, one wonders why this has not come out in Game of Thrones.Undoubtedly precious.The cloister of the monastery is possibly the most beautiful of all.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Back to the center of the city, we visited the National Museum of the Carriages (National Carriage Museum), which seemed as spectacular as the rest of what we had seen in Belém.This museum contains one of the most important European collections of royal carriages from the 16th to the 19th centuries and another one of fire engines.Nothing that can be seen there, as well as the 18th century palace that houses them, left us indifferent.
Museo dos Coches.Museo dos Coches.Museo dos Coches.
Parque das Naçoes
The translation is simple: Park of Nations.It is the most modern part of Lisbon, where the 1998 Expo was held. It stands out from other neighborhoods for its contemporary architecture.We arrived in the subway and got off at Estaçao do Oriente (Estación de Oriente), the work of Santiago Calatrava.We are so familiar with its style that when we saw it, it gave us the feeling of being in València.
Estaçao do Oriente.Estaçao do Oriente.
The park has the pavilions and venues inherited from the Expo, among which is the Torre Vasco daGama (Vasco de Gama), which with its 145 meters is the tallest building in Lisbon.We would have loved to upload it but it is not accessible.A pity;sure the view from above is breathtaking.It is located in the middle of the Tajo Estuary, where the longest bridge in Europe is 12.3 kilometers away.We could have climbed the cable car but it did not reach so high and we did not enjoy ourselves so much.
Torre Vasco da Gama.
That afternoon was the most relaxed we had because, although we did not stop, we got rid of slopes and cobblestones for a few hours.We walked around the area, which does not get rid of runners fever;We visited the mall and had coffee.We are still surprised at how cheap it is there (€ 0.70).
A runner with Vasco do Gama bridge on the background.
Lisbon deserves all the attention
In short, a very, very recommendable trip.The flight from València is less than two hours (752 km) and pass quickly.The food is good and not very expensive.The people are very friendly and there is not much problem with the language.Besides that Portuguese is not difficult to understand, in many places they also speak Spanish.We plan to return and learn more about our neighboring country.
Photography and translation (if you seee some mistake, it’s been me) by Sergi Albir (Archerphoto).If you need content for your website or your company, be it photos, texts, or video, you can contact us at sergi@archerphoto.eu or +34644459753.
When I was a kid I had a good group of clicks of Playmobil (actually, from Famobil , which was how they were marketed in Spain).As usually happens with the toys, we forget and lose them.They disappear and some people become nostalgic and idealize them.It’s not my case, I still like them, but I know they’re just plastic dolls.There is another group of people who, far from living in the past, turns them into their current hobby and gets to organise huge exhibitions.In Valencia, in Nuevo Centro concretely, is mounted one of these, with several times.I was particularly struck by the setting up of a village in the American West.
Of course, if you come with the camera you may have some fun.As this was a playful matter I decided to process the photos with an especially old look, as if they had been shot with a plate machine, which was the technology of that time.I am not trying to make artwork, especially since I was not the one who worked out the scenarios, but it seemed fun.
I took more pictures, but they did not stick with the treatment, so I might use them for something else.But for now, I leave this here.I hope you like it.
If you need photos, even if they are not for clicks, you can contact me at sergi@archerphoto.eu or on +34 644459753. Photo sessions for individuals, business photography, product photo or premises.And of course, portfolio photography for models .
A few days ago a friend reminded me on Facebook it’s years we knew each other.I searched some photos of that day and found, among many others, a few of a correfoc.So I thought to process them and upload them here.
Correfoc: Moraira 2009
The context, of course, are the loca festivities of Moraira (Alicante, Spain).In this case, the correfoc was held on July 17 and do not remember anyone coming out hurt or the like.In fact, despite the appearance, it is performed by people who are dedicated continuously (and in many cases professionally) to these events, so they walk, jump and perform their show, but not as in other events as I can be a cordà, in which participants firecrackers are shot to each other.
Overall, for what I know, in the Marina Alta region they are particularly popular, and also in some Valencian or Catalan towns and in the Balearic Islands.I am not an expert, but they seem to come from the Balls de Diables (Dance of Devils), a 12th century tradition.
Either way, they are interesting to document and aesthetically appealing. The festive atmosphere is evident and one can only wonder how in the month of July there are people willing to wear all necessary protection to avoid burning (although they feel the extra heat from fire).I think it was in a T-shirt and I was sweating a lot.The popular host is usually very good. You can find in the photos some curious uniforms (those of curious prints), which belong to the festeros (each year a squad is organising the festivities, those are the festeros) who were particularly close to each spark.
If you need professional photography services or video you can contact me with Whatsapp or Telegram in +34 644459753 or by e-mail: sergi@archerphoto.eu .I am Sergi Albir.Best office hours.
Some say there is nothing like film pictures. I may respect fundamentalists of celluloid, but I can not agree. Since we have digital cameras we can work at night with good results without dependence on the flash and tripod. The better our camera, the easier it will be for us. Although night it is not a particularly strange event, in my case, it has a special attraction.
Night Urban Pictures
I like to shoot at night in the city. There are a raising number of amateur astrophotography but it is not my thing. Valencia sky it is too bright because of the light reflected from the streets: excess of ill-designed street lights . So if it’s not a good place to take pictures of the sky, it’s fine to shoot on the street with that excess of luminosity.
One of the key factors is -in addition to working with high ISOs, high luminosity lenses and godd cameras- a steady hand. Personally, I almost never carry a tripod or monopod with me, so I just have to lean against a wall, lamppost or the like to obtain not trepidated photos . My system, apart from the above, is to shootjust after I have emptied my lungs with well placed camera. But it not always works.
Another important issue is knowing that many of the photos will not be fine, but do not fall into despair just for that. After all, only we’ll only show the good ones. In many cases the secret for success of urban and night shots is a matter of patience.
London, Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid are among the cities that I have photographed at night. If you are interested in purchasing any of these pictures in large, you can email me, because I still have not an operative online store.
Canary Wharf, LondonValencia PortBlackout in ValenciaLondres, Finsbury Park. Rain.Madrid, Paseo del Prado
If you need a professional photographer, forget Jimmy Olsen: my name is Sergi Albir, my phone is +34 644459753 and my e-mail es sergi@archerphoto.eu .
Some things happen even when you’re not ready for them.For business reasons I ended up having dinner at the Quique Dacosta Restaurant, in Denia (Alicante, Spain), and I had the opportunity to meet in person and talk briefly to a photo of him.
Quique Dacosta Restaurant in Denia
Since I am not a person with a special fondness for the art kitchen, I find special merit int the impression the place left me after I ate there.There would be little value in my critical analysis of this restaurant with three Michelin stars because cooking is not, by far, my specialty.The question of taste and experience in organizing local Dacosta is, yes I have to say, an original event perfectly designed, prepared and executed. It is not just eating and discovering textures, shapes and flavors that are out of anybody’s reach when you get used, but this Caceres guy (yes, even the Valencian what vindicate him, Quique Dacosta was born in Jarandilla de la Vera, Caceres) has a clear sense of entertainment and tries to astonish the visitor.In short, despite my limited expertise in matters of food, it’s a great experience.
Here are some pics of my visit to the restaurant, which until 2009 was called the Poblet, and now goes by the name of Quique Dacosta Restaurant. El Poblet is the name of the current Quique Dacosta Valencia restaurant.
For more information, it is obviously advisable to go through its website, which includes menus and more info on the two restaurants currently Dacosta owns, one in Valencia and the one I visited in Denia, Alicante. http://www.quiquedacosta.es/
However, for a more technical perspective, with explanations you can also visit his blog, http://quiquedacosta.blogspot.com.es/, which also includes information on other activities Dacosta, as his exhibition at the Valencian Museum Enlightenment and Modernity (Muvim).
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