Light & Land Tour
Valencia is one of Spain’s most exciting cities to visit and photograph. Founded in 138BC, it has a long and colourful history, influenced by Romans, Moors, Visigoths and Christians. Our photography tour will give us the chance to soak up its atmosphere and explore its character with our cameras, from the medieval past that shaped its old town El Carmen to the futuristic Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències – the City of Arts and Sciences.
Valencia has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Following a devastating flood, the river Turia was diverted and its drained riverbed converted into a huge park, which stretches for several miles through the city.
Our group will be based in El Carmen, and we will start our tour with a stroll around the old town and a visit to La Lonja de la Seda – the Silk Exchange. This magnificent Gothic masterpiece was built in the late 15th and early 16th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With an area covering 8000 sqm and 1500 stalls, Valencia’s Mercado Central is one of the largest indoor markets in Europe, and certainly the most exciting to photograph. We will immerse ourselves in the hustle and bustle, observe and photograph the locals going about their business and the architectural splendour of the modernist construction, which was built in the Valencian Art Nouveau Style.
Valencia is also a city at the cutting edge of architecture, and one of the most spectacular recent developments is the City of Arts and Sciences. Designed by architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, it features five main buildings stretching out over 2 km. We will spend time photographing the weird and wonderful shapes and reflections, and will also venture inside the fabulous Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, the performing arts centre with its opera and concert halls. The water features surrounding all the buildings give us the opportunity to hunt for reflections and produce more abstract images using a variety of techniques.
Back in El Carmen, we will use our walk to look out for an altogether different aspect of Valencia as well – street art is prevalent on many walls in town. Often, the murals have a political or social message, sometimes they are humorous. They are constantly changing, and we may discover new ones, which have only just been painted.
To top it all off, we may well encounter various processions, people dressed up in costumes and brass bands in El Carmen, as Valencians prepare for the annual Las Fallas festival. One thing can’t be missed wherever we happen to be in the city – the noise of a few minutes of fireworks going off at 2pm every day at the Plaza Ayuntamiento!
If you are interested in this tour, please get in touch with me here. Bookings will open once the situation around travel due to Covid-19 has become clearer.