“Fado Tiles, Lisbon” — Fado tiles on a wall along a sidewalk in the Alfama neighborhood, Lisbon
I found these beautiful little tiles on a wall along a street in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon. The truth of the matter is that I made a photograph of the wall, only barely aware of the tiles, and then took a closer look at them while working on the larger image in post. They appear to have been created by the same artist/craftsperson, judging by the signature, and I think they are relatively contemporary.
“Woman With Blue Bags, Alfama” — A woman carrying heavy blue bags walks along past weathered buildings along a curving Alfama street, Lisbon.
This photograph is a result of one of the quick, unexpected encounters that occur when doing street photography. Sometimes they happen so fast that there is hardly time to photograph. This one was brief, but not so quick that I couldn’t make a couple of photographs.
“Alfama Laundry” — Laundry hung by entry door and stairs, Alfama.
I know. Laundry hanging above urban homes in foreign cities is more than a bit of a cliche. I’ll try to minimize it, but sometimes I cannot resist. Here it is really more about the wild range of colors in the photograph, from that laundry to the colorful overhead streamers above the lane, and the contrast with the other less-colorful surroundings.
“‘L’ Station Entrance, Chicago” — Entrance to a Chicago “L” transit system station.
We spent a few days in Chicago just before last Thanksgiving. You may wonder why a couple of Californians would choose to leave their 70 degree climate and travel the frigid Chicago at that time of year. It is a long story — but we enjoyed our visit and had a great time. No, it did not snow. Yes, it was cloudy and gray most of the time, but when the sun did peak through the clouds the light was beautiful.
We spent most of our visit within the confines of the downtown “loop” area, walking to all of the places we wanted to visit — Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Magnificent Mile, the Symphony and the Opera. By walking we got up close and personal with this urban city, including some distinctly non-tourist attractions like this entrance to the subway system.