Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A picture I like

There were many other photos I would have chosen before this one really but at least I know I won't have any copyright problems this way.


I like this picture because of the colour, the somewhat unsettling strangeness and the fact it was taken on a day when there was an almost record low tide. Normally it would not have been possible to take this photograph because you would have been up to your neck in seawater! I never knew the sculptor personally but on the first occasion I visited this site I photographed him standing next to his creation without realising who he was. Subsequently, the photograph in question gave me the feeling there was something special linking me to this site.


Where is it What is it? Well, it is part of a group of massive iron structures, made by the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, which go to make up what is known as El Peine de Viento (The Comb of the Wind). The melding of such different elements as rock and iron in an outdoor work that is partly on the land, partly in the sea, set against a backdrop of cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean, makes for a very dramatic effect. The location is at the most westerly point of the shoreline in San Sebastian /Donostia. There are many web resources devoted to this site but the best thing is to visit it on different occasions, when the north-westerly gales send waves crashing over the rocks, or on a calm summer's day when the sun beats down and colours are at their most vibrant, as in the present photo, and so on.

1 comment:

testecarla said...

Hi, Tony,

I simply LOVED your photo with its description. As you are there, maybe you could be the one to photograph it in different occasions and post a slideshow here.

Thanks for sharing this cultural reference. To tell you the truth, I've never heard of Donostia, and it seems to be a wonderful place to visit and live.

I hope you keep blogging about it so that I can learn more about it and dream of the day I can visit there.

I'm a Brazilian from Brasilia, but I'm currently living in Key West, FL, a very unique place, too!

Here you can hear me talking a bit about it with my friends and students' comments.