CORDOBA: OLD QUARTER, PUBLIC ART, AND STREET ARTISTS

Our next visit was to Cordoba, a mid-sized Andalusian city, where our very able guide Lola took us on a walking tour of the city's Old Quarter.

 I found myself shooting semi-random photos, many of which were highly forgettable, of the colorful scenes.  But I did keep the following.

 Clever play, I thought, on the confusion between flamenco and flamingo.

I think Lola referenced the hotel sign because of her name.  She pointed out that it appeared to rate only 1-1/2 stars.

I liked the following plant that was being backlit by bright sunlight, providing a nice chiaroscuro effect.

And I also liked the human interest element in the following photo of one of the city's ubiquitous doorways.

For whatever reason it seemed that a large majority of the flowerpots hanging on exterior walls were of the same blue variety as in the above shot and in the following ones.

Here the play of shadows, both from the pots and the streetlamp, on the white walls had caught my eye.  I got another take of the same wall in the following shot of people standing in an archway watching a street artist perform.  I thought the image worked well as a silhouette shot, one of my favorites.

During the walk our guide introduced us to a number of public art pieces.

They almost look like the same guy.  Their turbans symbolize their Arab roots, a culture so important to Spain's history.  I particularly liked this latter bronze of a physician and took a closeup of his hand that I thought worked well as a detail shot.

Following is of a ceremonial door handle that our guide didn't point out but that I liked for the shot's overall composition, including the defect in the wall in the lower left of the image.

And here is another of a painting on exhibit that I liked very much, not for the composition but for the art.

In addition to the art, there were the artists--street artists.

I can't speak for the painter, but I thought the musicians were quite good.  

And then there was the guy below, who was not "art" but was pretty good.  I put some money in his coffer to justify taking his picture . . . 

including this closeup.

John