The Flowers I Never Wanted to Photograph I have to confess something: I’ve always found flower photos unbearable. That soft, decorative thing, like an optics calendar. The flower as an excuse to say nothing. The pretty macro shot hung in the living room because it doesn’t bother anyone. I’ve spent years running away from that with all my strength. And yet here I am, publishing flowers. The difference is in the place. These are not just any flowers. They’re from my garden in Totana. The place where I grew up. The land I return to. And when I crouched down to photograph them, I wasn’t looking for beauty — I was trying to truly see something I had spent my whole life looking at without seeing. What I found is not delicate. It’s a bud bristling with hairs like an animal. Two beetles mating shamelessly on a purple flower. A thistle armed with spines like a miniature war star. A dried flower that looks like paper about to fall apart. Thorns. Trichomes. Structures that seem designed by an engineer with very bad intentions. It turns out that up close, flowers are not tender. They are machines for survival. They sting, trap, defend themselves, reproduce with an urgency that is anythi… #naturaleza #fineart #paisaje https://alejandromaestre.com/en/diario/the-flowers-i-never-wanted-to-photograph/

What Fernando Does with Pain There are people who, when something bad happens to them, fall apart. And there are people who, when something bad happens to them, make songs. Fernando is one of the second kind. And I’m not saying that as a metaphor — I mean it literally. He has had a very hard year. One of those years that leaves you without solid ground beneath your feet for a while. And instead of standing still and waiting for the ground to come back, he picked up the guitar and turned all that material into music. He has real resilience, built with that emotional intelligence that so characterizes him. Yesterday he played at the Faro Bookstore in Totana. An intimate concert. Few people, chairs close together, no safety distance between the one who sings and the one who listens. I went with the camera. I also went as a friend, which is sometimes hard to be both at once — the one who photographs tends to get behind the lens and miss what is happening in front. But there are moments when the camera gives you access to something you would not see without it. It lets you look without being caught looking. What I saw was someone singing with his eyes closed and his face turned… #musica https://alejandromaestre.com/en/diario/what-fernando-does-with-pain/