Phenomena in Estepona

At first glance, Estepona was like any other; a typical Spanish town, diversified with tourists and locals. But unlike many Spanish towns I have visited, Estepona has its own intriguing hidden treasures, requiring tourists and locals alike to delve deeper into the heart of this abode.

Having been to southern Spain many times, it came as a bit of a shock, to many, that I had never been to Estepona. Even though it is just another coastal town, it has its own character and quirks. Estepona has over 21 km of pristine beaches but all seaside resorts can boast something like that. Unlike other ocean towns, Estepona can boast the beautiful and elegant Laguna Village. Set back along easy public and private transport networks, many would miss or disregard it as another small town. But this is far from reality.

Purpose built village; Laguna has shops, restaurants, beach clubs and a tourist-unspoilt beach. Travelling this far south it is nice to see the change in architecture and culture. Being only 60 km from the Northern tip of Africa, Laguna presents the African beauty of architecture with a European twist.

Immediately you are presented with the long thatch cottage style building which is built parallel to the beach. Through the use of the walk ways and openings, you can easily get to any part of the beach from this authentic mudbrick construction.

With a beach club selling beds for the day and restaurants for all tastes it sounds perfect. Only, on a small budget it was hard when you were tempted by the only beach club with the pool. With an upfront cost of €120 for an adult, I chose to capture the vitamin A somewhere else.

Instead I decided to reside at the Camuri beach club. With sun beds as comfortable as couches, for €15, I was sold. With the sand beneath my feet and the smell of the salty air around me, I could finally relax. With boardwalks between each row of beach beds I was able to shake the sand off my feet and apply sun lotion without exfoliating too.

The World's Biggest Pool

The ocean is the world’s biggest pool and I have had a month to live and explore it.

Spain has very much changed as a tourist destination for me. I first visited mainland Spain in 2013 and travelled on a road trip from north to south. Every apartment and hotel I stayed in was traditional and homely. Wifi and internet was limited which allowed all your time to be spent outside exploring. Now coming back for my fifth year I am witnessing the major changes that tourism has on a country. Spain used to be a country of exploration and relaxation. Now, due to free use of internet on you mobile phone tariff from the U.K., you are able to freely roam the internet in European countries. With this, I find myself, a lot of the time, using social media to find out what everyone else in the world is up to. I am a true believer that the internet has been a large importance to the progression of the human race, and for a career like photography, research online is vital. But in this age, it is quite easy to spend your time posting what you think other people would enjoy and envy, instead of living your own life and your holiday, how you most enjoy it. Having said this, in this age, it is very difficult to avoid. With all your friends at home freely using the internet, you feel quite out of the loop and lonely without social media behind you.

Change is a thing you can count on. But does this mean it is always the best route to take?

The origins of the name Marbella date back to prehistoric times, where Christians, Romans and Arabs left their culture displayed in the city. The word Marbella has been interpreted many different ways but isn’t that the greatest metaphor, everyone will view the city in a different way depending on how they view the world. Some affirm that it comes from the word Mar, meaning the sea, and Billa, meaning the mountain. Isn’t it strange how two very different things can be placed together to create one complete name. Two things in such contrast. La Concha, one of three peaks along the Sierra Blanca mountain range, in Marbella, is 1,215 metres above sea level. But maybe that’s the point, don’t they say that opposites attract.

I have also heard it said that Marbella originates from the Spanish Mar, meaning sea, and Bello, meaning beautiful. With 17 miles of coastline and 24 beaches, visited by over 2 million every year, it’s not hard to see why many believe this is the meaning of its name.

I know it isn't so far away but I know that this much is true. The culture and customs presented to me are like no other country I have seen before. And I kind of like it! I don't know what the future brings but I know I am here now witnessing such beauty.

Personal Beauty of Puerto Banús

With an increase in demand for travel, many more people are travelling around the world. As an EU citizen, I have always been grateful for the opportunity to freely travel around the EU. I have visited many cities in many different countries. From the city of love in Paris, to the traditional Christmas markets in western Germany. But for some reason I am always drawn back to Spain. The weather is a large plus but its more than that. The culture compliments my personality as well as contrasts it. I am allowed to feel like I am on holiday, changing my daily regime to fit in with the locals. After all isn't that what travel is all about; to learn and live like the local people. You eat their food, drink their drinks and sleep in their hotels. You are living their lives, in a way that suits you. See, when I’m in Spain, I would like to make good use of the siesta. There is no way I would sleep in the middle of the day in the UK but for some reason, in the Spain it makes sense. Siesta translates to 'nap' in English and that is what it is. The locals have a nap in the middle of the day to miss the hottest weather. I have to say, it is a very good idea and I feel rather refreshed after but when you pay a lot of money to get some vitamin A on your skin, a siesta feels counterintuitive.

I always stay on the outskirts of Puerto Banús and love the walk back to the apartment because as you walk away from the rich pretence on the harbour, you begin to appreciate the small things. Now don’t get me wrong I love the harbour and walking along, browsing in the shop windows looking at clothes and accessories I only wish I had, is a dream. But, for me it is about appreciating the many small businesses on the way back. Everyday families sitting eating everyday meals enjoying the time they have with their families. For me it is more than just a holiday resort, it is a home and a dream for many. Many people will walk along the harbour, like I, and wish they had money to buy the expensive clothes and bags, jewellery and shoes but as I walk through the streets now, I wish for a healthy, loving family, just like the ones sat in the local, family-run restaurants, who I will be close to forever. I see this in those families enjoying their meals in these small businesses.

Occasionally, however, we spend the whole night down by the harbour and I am taken aback by the beauty that can come of such fortune. We walk through the harbour and get tempted by products that any regular person I know would have to take out a second mortgage to afford. But for some reason, it feels like home. Whether it is because I have been there many times now of whether it is just a friendly place, it seems to pull me back every year. But what I love most, is that many of us are the same…tourists admiring the presented lives of those who have arguably more. Many of whom have parked their Lamborghini’s, Porsche's and Ferrari’s by the harbour to travel on their private yachts. We do not know one another, yet we fit in so neatly into a large demographic of people who are aspiring for more. As an admirer I have, too, fallen into the temptation of looking intently at the cars wishing they were mine, but knowing too well that I’m way too bad at driving for an expensive car! I think I will stick to the Fiat 500! I look to the left and see ocean and to my right are expensive shops. But all around me are people…people who, like me, have travelled from their home towns to visit this extraordinary place. With over 17 million visiting Spain from the UK in 2016, it is easy to say many of these visit Puerto Banús are Brits. But as the day draws to a close and the sky changes, the demographic, too, changes as the restaurants illuminate to attract new customers.

I get up at 7:00 and go for a run. I find the town of Puerto Banús so back to front; as I am just waking myself up with a morning run…I see restaurants and bars just letting their staff clock out after a long overnight shift. But unlike other countries and cities I have visited, they don’t seem to exhausted. This commitment is what I love. They are happy and willing to work at all hours to support themselves and their family. This determination is inspiring. The tracks I run on are mostly sandy, which can be slippy, but it allows me to feel apart of something. The mad fitness fanatics that get up early in the morning after being out late the night before in the restaurants, in twenty-something degrees Celsius! I am able to walk over the tracks of thousands of others who have walked there before me. Some local, some not but you have no idea. All represented by their individual footprint. Each footprint has its own identity and belongs to a specific person but this information remains hidden for future runners and walkers.

Every place we visit we see it with our own eyes. So travelling is entirely personal. This is the beauty as it allows you to witness undiscovered parts and visit unique scenes. Everyone has a unique perspective, a way of viewing things. And getting to know this perspective feels great. So I will continue to travel, explore, capture, edit and share my stories to all who are interested.

The Street Project

It’s hard to say why the style of street photography appealed to me over many other photographic themes. But I guess the most exciting part is the idea of rebellion. I am able to walk through the streets and capture the movements of strangers. I have learnt how to hide the identity slightly without ruining the mystery of the image.

Through the use of travel photography, I have learnt the lesson of different cultures but with the ability to achieve capturing powerful street photographs, I am able to convey the messages of local people. By capturing strangers in their natural environment I am capturing the scene for how it really is. I have grown up to see false people as well as brutally honest people. It is rather refreshing to witness the natural movements of people and know they are not creating any sort of false pretence or lie, by showing the true reality. I guess in some ways I should have studied psychology because how a person behaves can totally change the mood of the image I have taken. I have completed a number of street photography shoots in the South East of England and every new place I visit presents me with new emotions to reveal and convey. Street photography is a risky style of photography where you rely on shooting complete strangers without their permission but I feel like this only increases my desire to continue.

The understanding I have, to change the way I photograph each scene and emotion, allows me to capture more natural scenes where the camera may be positioned at a slight angle. This adds a unique quality which allows each image to look totally spontaneous. To create the best photos, one must look at their surroundings and themselves and use this as ammunition for each and every photo. Part of the image relies on the area where the subject is positioned. The negative space helps to frame the person, allowing them to appear more visible but also adds a story to each and every scene. See, I don't know any of the people I photograph, yet it feels as though I do. Through the use of imagery, I am able to capture a moment that is truly ours, as though through my images I live with them.

But overall, the thing I find most satisfying is the idea that in that split second, you are able to see a scene through your viewfinder, and in that second you have to make a choice. Life offers you an opportunity and your intuition will tell you when to click the camera. In that moment, the photographer is creative. Capturing a moment, that no-one else can take. In that moment, you have captured something which can never be again. If missed, it is lost forever. If missed, that creativity is lost always. If captured, it is stored and treasured forevermore as a memory. As a street photographer I am constantly playing with the optimum time to capture an image. Sometimes it works and other times it fails. But what I have learnt most is that sometimes the images which you think have failed actually become your favourite when viewed in a different setting. This is why I truly believe you cannot just see that a photograph is right, you have to feel it as well. However, this isn't something you are born with!

I have successfully finished four years of photography education now and one of my favourite and most aspiring photographers that I have come across was Elliott Erwitt. He is a french-born street photographer based in the USA. What fascinated me was the use of everyday items to frame the subject. For example, ‘California 1955’ shown below. The wing mirror focuses our eye towards these two subjects and shows the love they have for each other. With every image he captures, he is able to present the emotion of the subject(s) and the passion he has for his profession. One famous quote which I believe to be very true is ‘To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.’ - Elliott Erwitt. This quote couldn’t be more true. The idea that an observation can be lost in a second and finding this observation in an ordinary place is what makes it interesting. I tend to shoot street photography in town centres rather than city centres because it is just an ordinary scene in the background. I also have the added bonus that there are less people on the streets to confuse the image. I have learnt that when I photograph a scene, I have to imagine I am being photographed, also. By doing this I am able to capture the feeling portrayed by the subject.

It is hard to say how long I will continue adding to ‘The Street Project’ but I know for certain I am not done yet.

My American Dream

There are many different places I want to visit in my life and I am fascinated by each and every culture. I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to visit many cities that I always planned to visit but also to meet people from countries I have not yet visited. In particular, USA and Italy were two places I wanted to visit the most. With varying languages and, in the most part, varying weather, I found these destinations fascinating. New York has always been a place for dreams and I too have fallen into this stereotypical group of people who believe their dreams will come true there. I think that the difference with my American dream is that I don’t expect much to change. My American dream consists, simply, of the idea I will live in America when I am older. It would be hard to say that, for my whole life, I have dreamt about this because I cannot remember my thoughts as a young child. But I can confirm that the 6 or 7 year old Bethany had dreamt about this just like many other children around the world. In March 2016, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime, to be apart of the school music tour in New York. I truly felt as though I could test this dream. Like many dreams a child has, I expected my own dreams to stay dreams so this fantasy was a real adventure.

Now as a nearly 18 year old, I question why this dream has remained whilst others have become rather unappealing. I must answer this question with the answer ‘it was meant to be’. I don't believe in fate, or rephrased, I don't believe that if you sit back, everything that should happen, will happen. But I do believe that if you try to succeed, events that should occur, will. Therefore I truly believe that moving to America is my fairytale and fate, only I have to work to get there.

Travelling has always been a fascination of mine and I'm not totally sure why. I have always been inquisitive and I guess the inquisitive mind will ask questions about the rest of society, so the natural thing would be to investigate through travel but I believe there is more to it than that. The ability to travel freely around the world has enabled a slightly wild and excitable child to find her place in an ever-changing world. I have seen how many different people live their lives and have learnt from this. I am lucky to have had an excellent education throughout my life and I am very grateful for this but I believe I have learnt many of my life skills through the ability to travel. It sounds cringy to add a quote to this but Saint Augustine said ‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.’ So I guess for a child that never felt like they read enough, the only other option was to travel, to read those extra pages.

Possibly the best place I visited when I was in New York was Ellis Island. This is potentially the most powerful place in the world for its memories and dreams. Over 12 million immigrants entered the United States of America through Ellis Island to start their American dream, from 1892 to 1954. My photo of the Ellis Island entrance is shown below. Fascination started as soon as I entered the building and learnt about the screening and entry criteria. Immigrants were labelled with different symbols if they appeared to have some form of disability. It was interesting as well as heart-breaking to understand that many who entered Ellis Island were sent straight back due to discrimination. When I read this, I wondered how much had actually changed. This was definitely done on a more public scale but discrimination of this form and many others still occur in modern America and in the modern world. So I question whether the society we live in today has improved in any way. I think in some cases my answer would have to remain ‘no’.

I guess some people would question my timing for starting a blog, and of all topics I could have chosen, to choose travel, I must be stupid. But I believe this is the perfect time, being able to present my own point of view, I am able to show the positives and negatives of the modern world I live in and I am able to show how the ability to travel has shaped the way I view the world today and in history. The American Dream has always been a theme that mesmerised me. When I think back to studying Of Mice and Men in senior school, I was overwhelmed by the way the author presented this optimism as a hinderance to the evolution of the two main characters. But as a nation we naively assume that this dream can only be positive. This helped me understand that there are always two sides to every story. I am going to University in September (hopefully :D) and will begin to learn more but I wanted to start shaping my own future. I thoroughly enjoy travelling and photographing the scenes I see, so creating a website and blog, for this, sounds perfect. I chose to study Geography at A Level in the hope that I will learn more about my country and the world around me. Which, if nothing else, has taught me appreciation of my life but choosing a University degree in American Studies will teach me the skills to understand the connections and partnerships between countries. Also, I truly believe that this is the best way to follow my American dream. It is only topical that I should write this post only a few days after America celebrated their independence because every person celebrating that day is able to celebrate their own independent American dream they are living because of the country's independence. It is a human dream that is personal to every individual.

Having said earlier that the two places I have wanted to visit in my life the most are USA and Italy, it may sound unrealistic that my school chose for the music tour to be in Italy this year. The only explanation for this is fate! This time, however, we went at the end of June. We visited two very famous cities as well as many small towns. We stayed in a Municipality called Brenzone, on the Eastern side of Lake Garda. We performed in cities like Venice and saw sited in Verona. Simply, the age of cities like Verona, has allowed me to understand the progression the human race has made and the decline too. Many of the buildings, I was lucky enough to visit, were built nearly 2000 years ago and are still standing today. One example of this is the Arena di Verona (shown below), which was build in AD 30 and is still seen today, even after the major earthquake of 1117. But I compare this to the city of London where many old buildings, which are not even close in age to the buildings in Verona but are knocked down to build brand new office or apartment blocks. From visiting these buildings in Verona, I have learnt a new appreciation for vintage. By the protection of old buildings, you are preserving the dreams and fantasies of ancestors and previous generations. We all have dreams and, I for one, would hope that future generations would not ruin those dreams. That is how I view cities like Verona and Venice; a place where dreams are maintained and preserved.

I found the Torre dei Lamberti quite symbolic because it was positioned in the centre of the city. This is one of my images below. This is a clock tower built in 1172 and its purpose was to look out for the city of Verona and warn its citizens of any danger. It was built in the centre of the city and is visible from every corner. I believe this to be similar to the idea of fate. Fate will look over us and protect us if we are deserving of this protection.

Whilst in Verona, we were very lucky to be shown round by a tour guide. His knowledge and understanding of the city, I was standing in, helped me understand further the stories not visible to the average tourist. He revealed the devastating effects that earthquakes and fires can have on a city like Verona, but also showed the resilience to move on from such devastation. After earthquakes and fires, much of the building work fell down, such as the outer wall of the Arena di Verona, but instead of it destructing the lives of the local people, they decided to move on and built foundations on top of the rubble. It is rather cheesy to say, but I believe an important lesson was learnt here; when things get you down, you can let it drag you down further or you can rise up from it, build new foundations and start again. This is why I honestly believe that travel teaches everyone valuable lessons for life. My best tip though, is to get a tour guide, as they tell you all the extra things you cannot see with the naked eye!

It is hard to know what my future holds but I know it will be centred around travel and the lessons I have learnt from it. And I know for certain, photography will document my every move. (P.s these are all my own images, hope you enjoy :D )