I have long since learned that if you wake up early enough you have the city to yourself. As I stumble upon an empty medieval street at that fleeting moment when the still-rising sun silhouettes a single, solitary neighbour on an endless canopy of hanging laundry, I move to snap the shutter quickly before the shot disappears.
Professionally, I take all types of photographs, from products and food to landscapes and lifestyle, but I’m never more content than when I wander the streets of Barcelona, in the early morning and late afternoon, taking photos that capture this special, golden light. Looking through my work, it’s plain to see that I have a love affair with street lamps; perhaps it’s my soft spot for ‘old world’ charm that entices me to use these lamps as composition devices in so many of my photos.
The tricky part of the pursuit of light and stillness in a frenetic city is that these perfect sun beams fall precisely through the space between the old town’s rooftops (in some cases a slit little more than three metres across) at a different time each day as the seasons progress. I wish I could say that all my shots were planned, but some of the best are simply the result of being in the right place at the right time. Knowing this, I am content to walk the city streets, camera in hand, without a destination, waiting for the magic of Barcelona to present itself, one slender ray of light at a time.