Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light (1/9)

Roman Polanski

Rena Krasno, Part I of III

Old China Hand Reading Room, Shanghai 2010

We met in a charming bookshop and coffee house located in the French Concession known as the "Old China Hand Reading Room". Though it was opened some time in the early 90s, it retains all the colonial flavor and its probably one of the finest places in Shanghai to find architectural an photography books.The idea is fantastic, a place where one can go to have a very quiet time looking at art books while having coffee or fine tea. It offers the possibility of reading novels and looking at books without having to buy them, as well as purchasing them if you happen to be captivated by any of them. I got there early and order a pot of Oloong tea and as I was looking for some interesting books, randomly, seduced by its cover, I found what it turned out to be an incredible novel by an amazing woman called Rena Krasno. " The last glorious summer. 1939 Shanghai-Japan". Born in Shanghai to a Russian Jewish Family. Rena, her mother and her sister went to a holiday in Japan during the summer of 1939 just before the war broke out. With exquisite taste for detail and based on her notes taken when she was just 14, many years later she would write an amazing account of her experiences in Japan. With an impeccable narrative she describes the nature of japanese society at the time,the beauty of the landscape and places like Hiroshima ( many of the people she met there would be all murdered when the atomic bomb was dropped), her encounter with nazi germans, the rise of fascism among japanese society and the plight of european Jews that flew to Shanghai as the only remaining save heaven that was left for people without passport or nationality.

Anyway I think I lost track of what I was trying to write about as it was not my discovery of an amazing author and woman, but of another woman, a dear friend of mine who surprisingly turned up in Shanghai when I was there.So the reason I went to the Old China Hand Reading Room and discovered Rena Krasno, was because Arola Tous had sent me a text message two days earlier saying that she was coming to the opening of the Spanish Pavilion.

As I was waiting, reading with fascination the first few lines of the book I had just encountered, Arola turned up. Followed of course by her mother Beth Galí, who in time was followed by Paco Sert´s mother Maria and her aunt Totona. The four of them decided to get a last minute flight to Shanghai to spend the weekend and to be present at the official inauguration of the Spanish pavilion.

We had tea while taking a break and after a long day, and later we all went to a very nice restaurant where we had the best selection of finest dumplings near Jingan Temple.

"Pret a Porter", Shanghai 2010

Pudong, Shanghai 2010

"Seed Cathedral" by Thomas Heatherwick at Shanghai Expo 2010

Interior+Design Magazine, Russia

An article featuring 1o of my photographs of the Expo Shanghai 2010 will be published in the next issue (out next week) in the Moscow based Interior+Design Magazine

http://interior.ru/

"Del tirador a la ciudad", nuevo blog de Anatxu Zabalbeascoa en El País

Nueva serie de colaboraciones con Anatxu Zabalbeascoa para El País.

Esta vez en formato blog.

http://blogs.elpais.com/del-tirador-a-la-ciudad/iñigo-bujedo-aguirre/

La Alhóndiga, Bilbao 2010

Algunas fotografías de mi visita a la Alhóndiga, nuevo centro cultural en Bilbao que se abre hoy al público, donde me he encontrado con muchos amigos y hasta algún familiar que todavía no conocía en persona. El mundo es muy pequeño, Bilbao quizás lo sea más pero lo verdaderamente sorpendente son las coincidencias, que hay muchas.....

Alicia Chillida y su ayudante Enric Puig. Les hice una foto sentados en las sillas de SANAA, parte de la exposición inaugural Lurra Proiektua / Poryecto Tierra que ha comisariado la propia Alicia

En esta fotografía aparece Darío Urzay de pié sobre la obra que presenta en el Proyecto Tierra. Darío que quizás sea el artista vasco vivo más reconocido internacionalmente, es primo de mi madre. No le conocía en persona pero ha sido un encuentro muy interesante y me invitó a que visitará su estudio.

Olatz Gonzalez Abrisqueta y la pequeña Laga. Olatz presenta un trabajo documental en video.

Laga le acompaña y de a ratos, grita para que le den teta.

Rakel Esparza, Olatz y Laga durantre el montaje de la exposición.Este es uno de los momentos mencionados en que Laga impone sus necesidades.

Photographers´s gathering. Shanghai 2010

This photograph of me was taken by Pedro Pegenaute. This is a place I discovered on my first night in Shanghai, just 100 meters from my hotel and it turned out to be a wonderful spot where food was just incredible. On different days I gathered there with colleagues for dinner after very long exhausting days of wondering the Expo site.

There was an brief english menu which I kept of exploring trying almost everything there was in offer. The dumplings were simply magnificent, pork and soups also delicious and the Aubergine with fish sauce was exquisite. Strange enough I had had a similar dish before in Belgrano´s China Town, in a restaurant called " Todos contentos" where I use to go with Magalí.

(As we all know to eat decent chinese food in Spain is simply not possible so every now and then one needs to go all the way to Buenos Aires to have good chinese dinner. Failing that there is always the option of popping down to London; going for lunch in China Town has become a ritual for me everytime I go to England).

By the third day they already knew me so as I was walking in, uttering a polite " Ni hao" they would smile back at me producing without delay, the english menu they knew I was after. Often I just picked it up myself from behind the counter. They didn´t seem to mind as I had become kind of familiar to them.

Food as I said was great, the place was casual, a cantina style.

Dennis Gilbert and I met after many years. I think last time we had dinner together was in Bilbao where we first met while photographing the Guggenheim back in october 97. A night to remember as with Juan de la Cruz, we all ended up on a beach, rather drunk taking pictures of the moon with a brand new lens that Dennis had just bought for his Linhof Technikardan.

I knew of Pedro by his work but we had never met before. It was one of those great surprises. He came to China with Ana, his girlfriend , and we had dinner together a couple of nights.It was very nice meeting them as i think there was instant chemistry, a kind of natural affinity between us. Both were charming and I enjoyed their company very much.

Last time I had seen Roland Halbe was back at the Zaragoza Expo where we both were working on Zaha Hadid´s Bridge Pavilion. Here he was busy working at the press office of the Spanish Pavilion.