Lady Madrid

The last 15 years Barcelona has always been the City in Spain that had captured my heart by far over other cities in Europe..... But my love has moved on to a new and even more intriguing lady - Lady Madrid

My visit to Madrid was at first pure business, making a street workshop for some business partners together with one of the most skilled street photographers i know, Jonas Rask. (rethinking - do I know others - never mind :-) )

Pure business starts with a glass of champagne rose in between flights - nothing more - nothing less - and shopping perfume for our wife's and candy/ toys for the kids - Bazinga - job done!

Heading Madrid

The trip changed character at that instant moment we drove through the suburbs of Madrid heading for the center of the town.

I by instinct knew that this was something else, something more exotic then expected, and no it wasn’t the Aperol spritz or smoked Whiskey and Tapas that lured in my mind,

(I will come back to the smoked whisky and Aperol later, I promise) but still couldn’t put my finger on what it was.....and the fact that a tropical storm in the south pushed a heat wave up to Madrid here late in October (2017), just made it more perfect!

We arrived at the hotel in the center of Madrid in the afternoon - 22 degrees and the sun caressing the narrow streets with fantastic light - WOW just wanted to get my stuff in the room and hit the streets - and for the first time ever, I think I was faster than Jonas into the streets - and that is an achievement - trust me!

I got the Imperial suite with 2 small French balconies with a fantastic city view and street view - and Jonas! he got a room - Final that’s the way it is being an ambassador and not a manager :-) ( As you see he sneaked in to my room to shoot pictures grrrr )

First of all - Madrid is cheap - not as the woman she is, Madrid as town! she is Femme Fatale in every sense!! - but the food, drinks etc. etc.it is way cheaper than in Barcelona.

The food is stunningly good - tapas restaurants all over, check this out - 8 people dinner with wine - beer and food was around 140 Euro - Jap that’s right 140 Euro - go knock yourself out on food and drinks if you decide to go to Madrid!

The town split in two pieces

The town is split in to 2 parts - and starting at the big square you have the "Right" part that is the commercial part with new fashion shops etc. - like any other big capital in the world like in boring!

But the "left" side of the town - that’s the interesting part! Mark my words - old buildings - narrow streets - local tapas diners all over - local people - local Spanish wipes everywhere - just like a dream, it is just there and you don´t want it to go away ever, ever, ever, ever :-)

Jonas and I needed to figure out how to do a workshop for the participants coming down next day - and it was not difficult to find places to show the team and places to do real exquisite street photographing!

We walked around the streets locating places - we had tapas at the town square - I remember the vaitress asked us if all the ordered dishes was for only the two of us? (10 plates of tapas for two – is that to much ? Nooo! Nordic people are hungry people :-) :-)

Late in the evening we ended up at a square where we were meet with local music and local people just dancing at the square - we sat down and enjoyed the people, music and a couple of Apparol Sprtitz (or 5 isch) and headed home to the hotel smiling, confident with next day Street photography workshop – just perfect!

We were supposed to jump into bed - but the bar tender seemed special and mysterious in a way - and he was - he made us the most delicious smoked whiskey I have ever tasted - unbelievable unbelievable!!! With home made chocolate syrup and spices – warmed up and stirred into the whisky and then gently smoked and locked into a glass bell – just to look at the way it was made was exquisite.

Next morning - the headache hammered into my scull - the bartender told us!! - but 5 apperol spritz + a couple of bears before the whisky did not help us to make wise decisions and listen to wise bartenders – but it was worth it, believe me!

I meet Jonas in the hallway and he looked even more haunted by the hammer from the smoked whiskey :-) We were doomed…

The team arrived later on that day or was it the day before - never mind - the weather forecast wasn’t that good so we needed a portion of luck- after a fantastic introduction made by Jonas around the style Street photography - we all went out into the streets with our own FUJIFILM X100F´s- and from soft light due to sky´s making us go for Black & White pictures - the sun broke through the skies and filled up the streets with gorgeous light - simply gorgeous light.

Street photography can be a scary discipline – and I do respect the ones doing it properly and with integrity – it is a tough discipline. The speed that everything happens in – the motives – the light – the surroundings – the camera – the position – the settings the… the… the… wow it is difficult – but only until you get these small hints from Jonas – the small hints that makes the difference and makes you start creating your style – that is the magical part in the process – where you start to see – capture the surroundings and inhale the environment and be in it you and only you alone.

When I write alone – it is, seen from my perspective, very difficult to walk around in groups doing Street – 2 and 2 is maximum and then you just have to be by your self-together – if that makes any sense. You really have to concentrate and be in it like an invisible spectator with your camera. Two hours of street and you are tired – ups then you need to have a beer or an Apperol Spritz

The Ladies of Madrid

The Men

I can – if Jonas makes at street workshop recommend you to join and listen – listen carefully – because he is a king in the streets!

(Jonas Shooting GFX Medium Format #superfullframe)

The street workshop was a success – and we had the opportunity to finish it up with Olga in the evening. Yes Olga – a part of a fantastic Flamingo ensemble. You probably do not want to see flamingo every day – but do yourself a favor and go eat, drink and see this magnificent art of Dance ,song and music it makes it like the icing on the cake and a finale on the journey.

With all this behind us – we had one last day in Madrid Jonas and I – the rest of the group had left for the airport – but we wanted to such the last out of Madrid – the last drop…

And what happened?

We ended up in the national Sheppard festival day – 5000 sheep running down the streets – shitting the place down literally – bull´s pulling heavy wagons, and Sheppard’s in national costumes – why not lets take some pictures J

But then one of the Sheppard’s thought let’s give one of these 2-2,5 ton of bull a sip of my red wine – yeah why not? NOT I can tell you!!!

Doing that in the middle of a crowd of 5000 people and 5000 shitting sheep’s isn’t a good idea, it got a bit annoyed and decided to leave the premises……

We are still here – the Sheppard’s knew what to do and calmed the angry bull down – then we headed into the small streets of Madrid for safety reasons i believe!? for our final street shooting….

Thanks to Jonas Rask – Kajsa Berg - Fujifilm and the team for this fantastic experience – this story could be a bit over the edge – but never the less Madrid gives you the buzz and it just shows that this town is worth visiting – culture wise – city wise- the amazing food, everything is worth visiting.

Hope you enjoyed the store – the pictures and the Lady Madrid that you would like to visit her yourself.

Enjoy

Gallery

About the Camera we used in Madrid:

The X100F - The ultimate Street Camera by Jonas Rask : https://jonasraskphotography.com/2017/01/19/the-fujifilm-x100f-review-fantastic-fourth/

The Me "Fujib"

I am not a photographer - Just a salesman selling fantastic cameras and love travelling.

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-fujifilm-x.com

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-https://www.frederikvohnsen.com/

-http://palleschultz.dk/

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