Some personal favourites …
No, this photo of Nick studying those photos was not staged! I walked round a corner and just saw him like this – his pose, the way the light was streaming in from his left, the contrasts in shades of grey, the beautiful photos he was looking at so intently, it all just called me in. It still does.
Look, listen, feel, live
I guess this could speak volumes about me … enjoy the peek into my mind. Every day, I always learn something more about myself through my photography. Our tastes change, we see photos differently when we go back to look at them. Some we thought were good some time before, we later change our mind about. Every day my skills develop, my eye develops, and I grow as a person and a photographer (I hope). I love to take picture postcard shots, as you can see elsewhere on this site, and I am far from ashamed of that fact. But I also love to take and create what others would say are proper photography photos. I am not a photography snob (no offence to those who are purists) – what I love most is the actual process of capturing what I see and creating a photograph. Anyway, these photos I’ve taken here, for some reason, just keep catching my eye, over and over. To me that makes them special.
Gail Rajgor Photography
my favs
Hope you like!
Just click on a photo to see it in a lightbox setting. Love ya!
I know … My rainy day in Nowa Huta Photo may not be your usual type of favourite photo from a trip to KRAKÓW, but it’s mine. I took this from inside our steamed up little trabant during our crazy guides tour. To me this is just a beautiful shot of real life.
The design of the building – all those squares and rectangles in true communist style. The splashes of red from the two cars and the retail signs, shouting out as if the vibrant colour does not belong. The old man walking behind the white car… I wonder what he’s thinking. The dullness caused by the rain and the overcast skies – there is absolutely no sun shining at all. No hiding harsh reality by some sunny veneer.
What makes it really work for me though is the haziness of the view thanks to the steamed up windows of the car – it gives it another worldly feel, like we’re total outsiders sneaking a look into the real world of another community, a private world, alien to us. Of course, that is exactly what it is.
It fascinates me, intrigues me, and I still wonder if the old man was popping in for a kebab having got his shopping from spar? Hope so.
What can I say … I love photographing good graffitti. Plus my brother loves the Beatles and I agree – Do Not Lie To Yourself. I am strongly against dropping acid bombs, however, and it does disturb me that someone has plastered that up there. We live in a strange, confusing world.
The kindness of strangers …
The biggest compliment I ever had was when I was sitting in a bar in Barcelona, just watching the world go by and naturally capturing some photos as I did. There was a guy with his grandaughter at the next table. We exchanged the usual friendly greetings, but after about 40 minutes he just suddenly said “You’re obviously a professional photographer.”
I asked him why he thought that and he said it was simply because of the way I was observing the space and activity around me, what I took photos of, and also the way I held my camera or positioned it when I wasn’t using it. I was always ready for the shot somehow, he said.
He didn’t mention what kind of camera I had (and I loved that!). He said it was just something about the way I watched the world, anticipated possible shots, and was ready to get them if I could.
He was so kind and we talked for a while after, before I had to leave. As I left, he thanked me for apparently opening his mind to looking at what’s going on in a different way. I was so happy. I said you don’t even know if my photos are any good. “If they aren’t now, they will be soon – it’s in your blood,” he said.
Wow… can you imagine how amazing I felt?! Yes, it was the best compliment I think I have ever had. Bless him.
This is one of the photos I took as I made my way back to my hotel after my chat with the old man. I still love it.
Starting to think maybe I just like being a voyeur – watching other people as they go about their day unknowingly. I love the cobbles, the architecture, and the colours of the grand buildings behind this couple making their way to the beautiful old town.
However, the graffitti on the crumbling grey walls and the arches where I was standing speak louder to me.
Weird scary little Octopus at the bottom left does not seem to want us there. The striked out Nazi symbol just above it, reminding you of the town’s tragic past which you hope is well and truly behind it.
Then, as you watch the couple walk to the right of the frame, you wonder what lies beyond. Then finally, as your mind’s eye wonders that way, as if to see what’s ahead of them, the deep black angry face on the arch wall in the corner terrifies, staring angrily at you like some sinister bad omen.
As a tourist, we generally go to marvel at the oldie worldie beauty of places like Kraków and honour the history and sorrows of lives lost during the holocaust. The graffitti here warns us that all may not be paradise now though and that threats perhaps still lurk in the dark. We need to keep our eyes open and our hearts secure. We need to remain vigilant.
Where there is beauty, there could also still be a beast.
Humanity remains our greatest foe.
I just love this little shop and admire the artist/store owner for her creations and hard work. She’s focused, oblivious to me outside, and yet I feel I am being looked at by her creations on her behalf – those sad eyes all speaking to me. The same face in different locations, at different ages, none smiling, all seem to carry a sorrow of some sort. Is it her I wonder? And don’t you just love that old yellow typewriter in the front display window? This artist has a story to tell …
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