20.09.20 — Journal

More Caudete on Film

In a rather late follow-up to a post published almost a year ago in which I shared some 35mm film photos, today I bring a few more photos from my summer 2019 visit to Caudete de las Fuentes, the hometown of friend Roberto’s family in rural Valencia. I had forgotten that these extra few shots even existed, and so it was a lovely surprise to find them bundled in with my photos of Tenerife after dropping off a roll of film to be developed.

A series of pots, wicker jars, and glass bottles covered in dust in the corner of the loft of an old house.
An old chest of drawers is littered with empty glass bottled, boxes, and an old alarm clock, all covered in dust and perched below an old wooden roof.

These photos document some of the scenes from their old family home, and were taken on an old Samsung in between explorations of the small town and time spent mounting a lightbulb spectacular in their back patio. The warmth and imperfection of the film shots combined with the frozen-in-time nature of the location make for quite a special set of photos, one which looks like it could come from another century.

A series of old string lights hang from a series of bamboo rods in the worn old loft of an old house.
Chorizo sausages cook in a pan on an old gas stove.
Chorizo and fried potatoes on a plate.
Roberto sets up a series of coloured fairy lights in the corner of an old patio.
A series of coloured lights adorn the old entrance to an outdoor bathroom.
A series of fairy lights hang on an old wall behind a table covered in empty bottles and plates.

As ever, I haven’t edited any of these photos, as I’m a fan of leaving such intimate and mysterious 35mm film shots as they come. This second half concludes the series of photos from this tiny rural Valencian town, and represents a contradiction that I took away with me from my trip: there was an eerie melancholy air to a town in decline and suffering from severe depopulation, but my time there with Roberto was a whole lot of fun and relaxation with someone who’s also a fan of lights like me.

Be sure to check out the three other posts from my visit last year: snooping around the town itself, setting up the lighting, and the first lot of film photos I had developed.