Helmut Schmidt – Page 6 – Passion for Photos

Dumped

The town of Ponferrada in Spain was the center of a mining area. A narrow gauge railway was built to bring coal from the mines to the power stations. Steam engines were used on this line until far into the 1980 ies. The line was closed in the 1990 ies. While one of the power stations was converted into an excellent museum called “fabrica de la luz” (factory of light) and some of the railway material is displayed in a rather sterile railway museum, most of the engines ended up dumped on a siding and are slowly recovered by nature.

How this all looked like in 1980 can be seen here:

https://h-s-coronastories.blogspot.com/2020/10/number-38-spain-1980.html

Public transport

It is widely known that Lisboa has the most curious of all tram networks. What is less well known is that the town also has a number of funny funiculars and lifts. Here is one

Market

Some pictures from my favorite market

Building ships and boats (3)

After India and Oman, have a look at West Africa. The Niger river is the Mississippi of this part of the world. The town of Mopti houses the river’s most important port. From here boats leave to the villages of the inland delta, a huge swamp, the major agricultural production area of the Sahel. A shipbuilding yard in Mopti produces the wooden boats.

*One of the river boats about to depart*

Everything is done by hand, all the materials, even the nails, are recycled

Street Musicians (2)

I could not really decide which pictures to show, so here is another post with street musicians

Street Musicians

In his book “Down and Out in Paris and London”, George Orwell distinguishes between two types of beggars: the ordinary who just wants money, and those noble ones, who actually give a service for the gift. Street musicians really are part of the second group. And in winter this can be tough….

Speed (2)

Torino in Italy is a motor town. Last summer they had a display of race cars in the pedestrian zone.

Fishing harbor

Some impressions from the small port of Vilanova i el Geltru in Spain

Semana Santa

In Spain, the week before easter is the time for big processions. In many towns the shrines and name saints of the churches are carried around by believers. Although this is not any more the blood stolling event of the flagellants, carrying around the heavy burdens in thick clothes is not easy in the sweltering heat. Here some pictures from Valencia and Merida, where the traditional masks are still worn.

Winter light

February and March are my favorite months for taking pictures. The leaveless trees offer unimpeded view of what is hidden in summer. In addition the barren branches add some drama to the pictures. The light is still low, weak and usually there is some haze in the air. Together with the long shadows this hopefully makes the pictures more interesting. The hazy streets and long shadows remind of the black and white pictures taken in the time between the wars.