If silence is golden then I’m a bronze winner. I don’t know what that means. I just find it a little ironic that a gallery in Barcelona, Spain had an exhibition called, “Silence”. Most Spanish women, and men too, aren’t exactly shy in partaking in conversations. They’re good talkers and remaining silent isn’t a typical trait.
That includes my Puerto Rican/French Canadian girlfriend. So how on earth did one of my portrait photographs of her titled, A January Day, get into the Silence 2026 exhibition at the PH21 Photography Gallery in Barcelona?
The exhibition took place in January in an old building in the heart of Barcelona. I wasn’t able to attend but I had a great experience with the gallery. We had a zoom call with all the exhibiting artists and art gallerists. It was inspiring hearing the others’ stories about their work and getting a live video tour of the set up in the gallery.
The business of day-to-day living creates no room for thought. An unexpected exquisite profile caught while burning time on a day with no expectations. A moment on a cold winter day in January in downtown Los Angeles.
A January Day, photographed by Greg McDonald
Once again, this photo and the several other shots I got that day, prove sometimes it’s best not to plan anything and just bring a camera and see what happens.
It was a somewhat cool Sunday in January in Los Angeles where Lorraine and I decided to go downtown and walk around. We had no plans and we certainly had no intention of doing a “photo shoot”. I brought my camera because, well, may as well bring it.
Related: It’s been a joy
In addition to getting several portraits I really like, we took a ride on the Angels Flight, checked out the Broadway market and visited the side-by-side wedding venue and divorce court. I kid you not. They were right next door to each other. True one-stop shopping to serve all your needs under one roof.
The lesson of the day: go somewhere without any plans and bring your camera – but with no obligation to capture anything. Only if something arises. I’ll always do planned productions where there’s a bunch of stuff to work out before shooting but this is something I haven’t done much of lately: just grabbing a camera and going out in the world.
So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off. To where I don’t know.
More portrait photography.