Bilbao photo blog part 2 - the best of the rest!
Posted on 20th January, 2015
Following on from my photo blog last month - on the immaculate Guggenheim in Bilbao, here is my report on some of the other incredible architectural sights to be enjoyed in this amazing city.
OK so we’re slightly encroaching on Guggenheim territory here, including the massive spider (Maman) and Daniel Buren’s wonderfully daring, bright red Arcos Rojos sculpture - however, these all serve as embellishments to the towering La Salve bridge and so this seems a good starting point for my ‘best of the rest’ photo blog!
It’s a bridge that can be tackled from many different angles - quite a subject in itself! Heavy rain and a wet paving stones were the ideal backdrop for the above, with one of Bilbao’s many other sculptures that adorn the city, making a rather unusual frame for the below:
Just crazy shapes and patterns everywhere - you can see why I found Bilbao one of the most fun places to photograph! For the image below I decided to experiment with a bit of ICM (intentional camera movement) - very deliberately though. I used a tripod so I had control over the amount and direction of movement (keeping the camera still for about half the 2.1 second exposure) and I also waited for the figures to walk past - without the ghosts and their umbrellas, I don’t think this image would really be that interesting or successful:
I didn’t manage to visit all the bridges in Bilbao, of course, but another firm favourite was the wonderfully named Zubizuri footbridge - designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. Zubizuri is Basque for ‘white bridge’ and it also goes by the name of Campo Volantin:
The bridge judders rather as people walk past and so you have to time your shots. It suits a moody sky and also looks wonderful at night. I wouldn’t have minded something a little wider than 14mm (21mm equivalent) although this was certainly sufficient:
Even the more mundane bridges have compelling features to go at - I loved the block structure under the edges of this bridge:
Moving away from bridges, one of the more fascinating buildings we visited was the Aldonhiga. Originally a wine warehouse, it is now a multi-purpose building, designed by Philippe Starck, complete with cinemas, shops, cafe, fitness centre and a swimming pool!
Not just ‘any’ swimming pool, of course - this is Bilbao! Swimmers can be seen from below - a mere 100 feet or so up - another bit of striking design! The whole building is a bizarre mix of functionality and style, as typified by this ostentatious ceramic pillar in the main hallway:
Even the floor manages to be photogenic:
Another world class architect is responsible for the rather futuristic metro stations - Sir Norman Foster. Walk inside the metro and you feel you are entering the set of some sci-fi film - the eerie screeching of trains sounding more like an other worldly choir!
Security weren’t very keen on my tripod so I had to shoot handheld much of the time - thankfully the Fuji does high ISO remarkably well. For some reason the entry/exit barriers made me think of racing traps for martians!
I’m not normally a fan of colour popping but felt it worked well for this largely black and white conversion (above). Probably my favourite photo of the metro is the one below - tripod required for this and I had to hang around a while to wait for that perfect moment and a single figure, coming to get me!
I also had fun taking photographs on my way up and down the escalator - people must have wondered what this strange photographer was doing, lurking around, going up and down all the time!
There was something both tardis-like and dalek-like about the wacky capsule entrance/exits to the metro! The dalek side of things is rather evident in the first of these ME (multiple exposure) images below:
The old town is also fascinating to visit - perhaps not so obviously photogenic, but you certainly see some interesting sights - bizarre mix of elements as ever:
And even when it’s time to leave this magical city, you have the consolation of enjoying the superb architecture of the airport itself, as below and also the central multiple exposure in the triptych earlier in the blog:
You’ve probably gathered I rather liked Bilbao! Please do also have a look at my earlier blog on the Guggenheim, if you missed it last time round. Bilbao. What a place! They even have neon seagulls!
