Category: Photography

Caroline BachLeave a comment

¡No tenemos miedo!

Tonight will be a big night,


Children at Plaza Catalunya in front of a sign saying No tenemos miedo – “We are not afraid”

I passed by Plaza Catalunya earlier today to see how the indignados were doing and it’s just wonderful how well they have managed to organise themselves. There are activities for children, a huge kitchen where people cook huge pots of coffee and food, a communications centre, international translation services, information centres, organised speeches, and activities, music, theatre, art, books, people, more people and big maps of the whole plaza with instructions and information. What strikes you is that every person is invited and welcome to participate, it’s not an organisation that has mounted the whole thing, it’s everybody, the people. There is no chaos as I was expecting at first, The whole thing seems very well thought through and as I said, organised, which for me makes it all much more legitimate, real and powerful.

To those who still haven’t understood what this is all about, there is already a great wiki for it.

I will be at the plaza tonight to support the protesters and listen to the debates. And of course, to take pictures.

I’m going now, see you there!

Caroline Bach2 Comments

The Spanish Revolution

Today I went to Plaza Catalunya here in Barcelona to watch the #spanishrevolution movement gather and protest.


Plaza Catalunya, 19 de Mayo 2011 #acampadabcn

It is still a bit unclear exactly what it is that the protesters are trying to accomplish with these nationwide protests, they talk about change, about jobs, about the politicians, the bankers, the crisis, the big revolution and a better future. Chanting “Yes we camp!” while camping on the plazas around the country during the days, and making noise and organising big talks during the nights. All of this, continuously since the first protest on the 15th of May, and right before the elections that are due this Sunday, the 22nd of May.

What I witnessed today at Plaza Cataluña was a never ending noise from frying pans, keychains, whistles, trumpets, drums, singing and clapping. This went on together with dancing and jumping, nonstop for more than an hour. Tinnitus guaranteed.

After that, a big van with speakers was driven in to the middle of the plaza, and the crowds, thousands of people, sat down on the ground. The talks were on and after a short instruction presentation, presented together with a sign language interpreter, anybody who wanted to talk could come forward and express their thoughts, complaints and solutions though the microphone. The people would listen and either agree by shaking their hands in the air, disagree by forming an X with their arms, or tell the person they have been speaking for too long by doing another, pre-decided movement. So beautifully organised, so democratic!

I’m not sure if and how chanting and making noise will bring Spain to economical stability or make the politicians and bankers give up their salaries. I do, however, strongly believe that the simple fact of old ladies, little children, hippies, young students, parents, immigrants, activists and men in suits – thousands of them – singing, making noise, jumping together and talking – has a very positive effect in itself on the society.

So, even though my ears still hurt from all the noise, the way these people have organised their own revolution has been beautiful to witness and I support them in their continued peaceful and democratic fight for change. Whatever that change might be.

Caroline Bach2 Comments

The Bin Laden Hysteria ft. Com Truise

Waking up this morning, twitter informed me about the death of Osama Bin Laden. Hours later, I am still confused about all the celebrating and people acting like as if their country had just won the world championships in football.

A bad man has been executed without a trial. The leader of Al Qaeda was without any doubt a source of great hatred, but still, this man had many followers and his death most probably isn’t the end of all terrorism – or the security checks at airports. Let’s try not being too naïve about this one.

Having said that, I have to say that I am completely in love with twitter. The world was twittering about the news of the killing long before it was officially confirmed by the US Government. A man in Abbottabad unknowingly live-tweeted the action. And now #siosamafueramexicano is trending worldwide. Such a practically direct, powerful and reliable way of getting an understanding of both general opinion and that of specific people.

For those that have had enough of the Bin Laden hysteria, here’s some Com Truise. The album can be downloaded for free from his webpage, just click the name of the album below. :)


Com Truise – Slow Peels
Cyanide Sisters (2010)

Caroline BachLeave a comment

Undefined

So, I’m back in Barcelona with its hundreds of errands and things I need to do.. Somehow, however, without a proper Monday to-do list this week has felt kind of.. undefined.

Yesterday was the day when my curriculum, cover letters and various applications were in focus. It must be most time consuming task of all times when ambition tells you that perfection is the only option. But I did what I needed to do, while following the Barca – Real Madrid football game by listening to the shouting and singing of the neighbours and taking a look into what people all over the world were twittering. I’m really happy to have rediscovered twitter, it’s a very powerful tool for getting instant updates on whatever you are interested in and if you want to follow me, just ask! http://twitter.com/#!/carolinebach

Today is another undefined day, I have some errands to run and tomorrow I get another visit from Sweden. They stay until monday and then other people come, then I go for a trip again, then there are music festivals and summer and then who knows.. With all these visits, projects and moving around I never really feel like I manage to get into routines here, I’m not sure if it’s good or bad, but knowing me it’s probably the easiest way to save me from the darkness of boredom. haha

The picture above was taken on my street, it’s the Pakistani shopowner’s kids playing Barca football and that’s clearly a penalty kick. Barca scored that day.

Oh, and I might not have a nice to-do list this week but I do have a post it on my desktop with 10 projects and applications I need to start working on and that should be good enough for now. So.. see you around!

Caroline BachLeave a comment

India and its Women

The amount of dignity that the Indian women were expressing when I saw them in India was both inspiring, impressive and touching. No matter how dirty and dusty the surroundings would be, they always managed to keep their faces and colourful clothes impeccably clean. No matter how much misery there would be around, they would always express calmness. Carrying their children on their backs while working as hard as the men, marked by tattoos, jewellery and colours binding them to their husbands, villages and status.

For me, being a foreigner invading their natural setting, I was thrilled by how these shy and quiet women wouldn’t treat me as an intruder and close me out with common prejudice. On the contrary, when approached with a smile, their eyes sparkled of curiosity and kindness and their willingness to communicate and exchange experiences with a woman from another world was touching. I sat down on the ground with women in many different cities, talking about their daily life and their dreams, sharing laughs and random memories. The importance of them giving their time to me and the gratefulness for having access to their worlds was immense. My male travel friends looked at me with envy as they were completely closed out from the colourful and giggly reality of Indian women. For me it was a lot easier – I was granted access just by being a woman and giving them a sincere smile.

Caroline Bach1 Comment

Black Tears and Obsession

There are people that you need to meet just a few times to realise that there is something about their ways that intrigue you. The beauty of those encounters is not to be denied, on the contrary, I believe they are to be enjoyed and explored as interesting people is a very scarce resource these days. But as reality at times can be a bit cruel, the intentions and interests of two people starting to interact often differ and your own interest might grow beyond that of friendship while the other person does not seek that kind of attention from you. Reality can decide that your possibilities for getting to know somebody better are limited by a somehow tangible reason such as distance – or the direct slap in the face such as the other person simply not gaining the same amount of stimulation from interacting with you.

Curiosity is a vicious little feeling when it gets abruptly interrupted. If somebody got your attention and you never got to further explore this person it can be very difficult to let go. Instead, you give your object of interest its own little room in your head and let it sit there and grow on you.

What often happens in that room is a process of glorification, you focus on the details that caught your interest in the first place while wondering about the rest. Curiosity tries to force you to fill in the blanks, and when you get blocked by reality, you panic and act irrational. You persuade yourself that this one is somebody you must fight for and that you just have to know what might have been.

It’s easy to forget the two most important details in this very classic situation – you don’t even actually know this person, and we are all people with our own preferences, thoughts and an ability to act, so if your object of obsession doesn’t respond to your attempts, you might just need to respect that.

Bebo y Cigala – Lágrimas Negras
Lágrimas Negras (2003)

“Aunque tú me has echado en el abandono
aunque tú has matado mis ilusiones,
en vez de maldecirte con justo encono
en mis sueños te colmo de bendiciones.

Sufro la inmensa pena de tu extravío
siento el dolor profundo de tu partida
y lloro sin que tú sepas que el llanto mío
tiene lágrimas negras como mi vida.”

Caroline Bach1 Comment

My extremes

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In between the extremes is the reality where most of us are, where we feel safe and where life flows comfortably without drastic changes, where you just live – and let yourself be led by your strivings to reach what your surroundings already have accomplished.

I don’t want predictability, I want the extreme points of reality, the whole spectrum. The harshest contrasts with all of their details. I want to understand both “Bottom up” & “Top down” and talk to the lonely streetkid and to the man in the shiny suit. That’s where I feel that I learn, where I can be surprised and stimulated by something new. Where I can grow and get enough experience to actually do something, to be aware of the differences.

I need the world to surprise me, to not let me conform in “in between”, to give me reasons to move beyond myself. Cheesy enough it’s why I studied both Psychology and International Relations – because that’s where I want to be, understand all the realities of other people and myself, find myself in my own extremes.

Both of the pictures above were taken in 2010. The first one is in the Streetchild rescue center in Assagao, India. The second one is with Martin Luther King Jr. III on a Peace Conference in Jaffa, Israel. Both events taught me more than a year of master studies in Sweden ever could.

At the moment I am striving for two new extremes – one in Sub-Saharan Africa and the other one in shiny places where big decisions are made. I don’t know what will happen or where I will end up, but until then I have my beloved Barcelona which gives me a lot of stimulation at the moment and which seems to be the right place to maybe one day create a home base. We’ll see. I’m looking forward to whatever the future brings.