Sunset on Barcelona's Knife Sharpeners 
Friday, September 6, 2013, 20:00 - Commentary
Barcelona

"Like it? No. But I have to eat," 77 year-old Erique, one of Barcelona's last knife sharpeners tells me when I ask why he continues to get up before dawn to ride his scooter around the city in search of customers. For more than forty years he has taken his mobile sharpening stand attached to his Vespa around Catalonia.



He says he continues to work because the pension available to him wouldn't support him. At the same time his customer base continues to shrink. Among the other knife sharpers all are well past retirement age. In an age of cheap knives from China that can be purchased at local stores it is hard to imagine that Enrique's profession will last much longer.



Unlike the tens of thousands of Spaniards who have fled the economic downturn fro greener, if not warmer pastures in Germany and Scandinavia men and woman like this knife sharpener are tied to their nation both by familial obligations as well as age.
  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 2.9 / 272 )

The Knife Sharper's Whistle 
Thursday, September 5, 2013, 10:59 - Shooting, Commentary
Barcelona

For months I had been hearing a peculiar whistle sound every few weeks. After some investigation it turned out that it was one of Barcelona's few remaining knife sharpeners.



Enrique started in his profession forty years ago at the urging of an uncle. At the time he worked in a factory earning the equivalent of five to seven euros a month. On a lark he went with his uncle one Sunday and earned a quarter of his monthly wage in just a day.

Riding his antique Vespa around Barcelona he says he has to get up earlier and drive farther for the few remaining customers he has which tend to be restaurants.

When you can buy a sharp knife from Ikea for five euros why spend two euros to have that same knife sharpened when it gets dull? Enrique is just one of many Spaniards being buffeted by the winds of economic change.
  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2534 )

Exhibition in Barcelona Tonight! 
Thursday, July 25, 2013, 08:56 - Personal, Events
Barcelona



If you happen to be in Barcelona today or tomorrow stop by the joint exhibition that I'm in! I will be screening the multimedia piece I create exploring European Pentecostalism and showing some rare color prints of my work here in Europe.

More info: http://www.homesession.org/03_news/2013 ... diane.html

The Evidence of Things Not Seen

The manifestation of faith or rather, its performance as evidence of the unknowable is the starting point for Damaso Reyes & Diane Sylvester's exhibition "The Evidence of Things Not Seen." The show explores how belief is experienced by individuals and groups in The United States and Europe as well as the dialectic between its intimate nature and the more expansive community that faith builds through the external presentation of internal experiences.

Diane Sylvester's video installation "Jesus Man" documents the steps of an individual who has become over the course of twenty years both a local institution and a street evangelist. Through his daily routine "Jesus Man" is a catalyst of community for what would otherwise be a disconnected and isolated collection of individuals in New York's Manhattan Valley neighborhood. Through this visual and aural experience Diane shares the ritual nature of a religious "performance" that over time exceeds its spiritual starting point.

Damaso Reyes presents an audio and photographic work "Speaking in Tongues" which is based on two years of documentary research examining the rites of Pentecostal churches in Catalonia, England and Ukraine. The images and sound explored how deeply personal and transcendental experiences of prayer is manifested in public expressions of faith. His still images from Spain, England and Ukraine are juxtaposed with the recorded sounds of Pentecostal worship services in Catalonia to allow the audience to temporarily witness how this faith is experienced by some of its most devout adherents.

Opening: Thursday, July 25- 2013, 19:30
Exhibition: 25/07 -> 27/07, 17:00-19:30 and by appointment
C/ Creu dels Molers 15. Barcelona. Metro Poble Sec


  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2796 )

Sign of This Time 
Thursday, July 11, 2013, 07:22 - Photo of the Day
Stockholm


  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2379 )

Above and Beyond 
Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 07:20 - Photo of the Day
Stockholm

If your tire of looking at your feet turn towards the stars...


  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2362 )

Big Gulp 
Sunday, July 7, 2013, 07:18 - Photo of the Day
Stockholm

There were many things I expected in Sweden. 7/11 is not one of them.


  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2225 )

Darkness falling 
Friday, July 5, 2013, 11:15 - Photo of the Day
Stockholm

So far and yet so close...

  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2194 )

A Little Multimedia Action 
Wednesday, July 3, 2013, 07:11 - Project News
If you are a little more visually oriented check out the photo essay and multimedia piece I published on The Mantle about Pentecostalism's spread here in Europe.


  |  0 trackbacks   |  related link   |   ( 3 / 2100 )

Catching Up 
Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 07:06 - Project News
Stockholm

For those of you who love to read please check out my article about the spread of Pentecostalism in Europe which was published in the Spring Issue of World Policy Journal.



It is the culmination of a year's worth of explorations and I hope you enjoy it!
  |  0 trackbacks   |  related link   |   ( 3 / 2128 )

Boys of Summer 
Thursday, June 20, 2013, 09:59 - Travel, Shooting, Photo of the Day
Sotkcholm


On my first full day back in Europe I find a baseball game!
  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2346 )

Hello Stockholm! 
Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 09:55 - Travel, Project News
Stockholm



Well here I am in Scandinavia for the first time! I'll be around for about a month exploring Sweden and I look forward to keeping you posted on what I discover!

  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 679 )

Damaso is a 2013 French American Foundation Fellow! 
Thursday, June 13, 2013, 09:50 - Travel, Personal, Project News
I’m excited to announce my selection as an Immigration Reporting Fellow by the French American Foundation. For my project I’ll be traveling to Sweden on Sunday for a month to look at the lives of second generation immigrants of Turkish decent and in September I will be based in Istanbul for two months interviewing and photographing those who have migrated to Turkey. It should be an exciting few months so expect several updates! If you have any tips for Stockholm or Istanbul please let me know.

  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2234 )

Last Embers 
Friday, August 24, 2012, 08:55 - Photo of the Day
Barcelona


Correfoc, Barcelona 2012
  |  0 trackbacks   |  related link   |   ( 3 / 2645 )

Stars Falling From the Skies 
Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 08:53 - Shooting, Photo of the Day
Barcelona


Correfoc, Gracia, Barcelona
  |  0 trackbacks   |  related link   |   ( 3 / 2204 )

Trees of Light 
Monday, August 20, 2012, 13:28 - Shooting, Photo of the Day
Barcelona, Spain


Street festival, Barcelona
  |  0 trackbacks   |   ( 3 / 2881 )


Back Next