A Spanish dilemma

In just a few weeks Mark and I will be heading south, to spend a day or so with Bibi in Benicasim and then a few days visiting Annie near Alcala la Real . So..when the Feria came to town, it seemed like a good opportunity to practice ( I'm not sure what we thought we would be practicing….eating tapas maybe ? ).

Feria 2013 poster

The newspaper has been full of contradictory views about this year’s Carcassonne Feria. There have been no bulls here for the last couple of years….but this year, they returned, with all the controversy that was bound to follow. So, on one page the report was about the triumph of the kill, with all the gory accompanying photos of macho men in sparkly jackets plunging sharp sticks into stunningly beautiful animals…..and on the next, were reports about the protests. Forgive me for not including scenes of  animals dying in agony .

No caption needed here really.....image taken from L'Independent newspaper

I remember seeing bull fighting near Avignon, where little flags were looped around the bull’s horns…but no blood was involved. This was clearly the full blown Ernest Hemmingway approved battle to the death stuff. At one stage of my life I thought I understood the fascination with bull fighting, but then I was very young, and was probably more fascinated with Hemingway than the bull fights.

Mark and I did not attend the bull fights.

However, we did wander into Carcassonne on Friday night to see what was going on in one of the town’s main squares.

We found tapas and sangria, plenty of wine, salsa and flamenco, and families having a wonderful time.

 

Not a particularly good photo, but we watched the 4 people on the right of this picture for ages....they had a wonderful time.

I love the moodiness of Flamenco....he was mean and moody

...and so was she..... hardly a smile all evening, fabulous !
 

Heart and soul involved with every note.

 Another moral dilemma I faced due to the Feria ( the bull fight dilemma was not difficult to resolve, there was no chance that we would support such horrors), was: should I take photographs of people without asking their permission ?

Some of the costumes were fabulous

I have always enjoyed photographing spectators at events. When I was at the London Olympics last year I approached dozens of supporters from all over the world, who then posed beautifully for me. I have taken crowd shots at various sporting events, and then possibly zoomed in on particular faces at the editing stage.

I took this one from some distance away, but I couldn't resist her expression

In Carcassonne, I shamelessly pointed my camera at people who were clearly having a great time. I also spotted some great costumes….particularly children who were joining in the fun and the whole spectacle. I couldn’t help myself. Should I have asked them if they minded ? Should I have found their parents and asked them for permission ? I wouldn’t have got such natural images if I had….but all the same…..I feel it wasn’t quite right.

Again.... from some distance, and I couldn't resist taking the photo.

No permission needed for this one....Mark buying his first ever churros. He asked me what they tasted of, all I could say, was they taste exactly as they look like they should taste. He agreed.