EL Ventorrillo of Uncle Benito There is a hidden place in the middle of the Murcia orchard called El Ventorrillo del Tío Benito. If you don’t have any acid reflux problems, it’s a place where you can buy cured meats and homemade bread. The cured meats are spectacular. The bread is too, although it’s worth warning you about something: it’s a bit hard. And when I say a bit hard, I mean you need, at the very least, a Valyrian Steel blade to cut it. It does have its good side, though. That bread doesn’t go stale in a year. It would probably survive a nuclear war. When nothing is left on the face of the earth, there will be cockroaches and a loaf from Uncle Benito. The pity is the owner. An elderly lady with a very bad temper. And I’m not talking about the charming small-town bad temper, that kind of “what do you want now” that secretly means she cares about you. No. I’m talking about real bad temper, the kind that leaves a mark, the kind that makes you rethink whether the cured meats were worth it. (They weren’t worth it) I’ll never go back again. But I’m taking two things with me: the memory of the taste of that cured meat, which still haunts me, and this photo of three regula… #viajes

Alejandro Maestre

El Ventorrillo del Tío Benito — Fotografía documental de la huerta mur

Crónica y fotografía de un ventorrillo escondido en la huerta de Murcia: embutido memorable, pan indestructible y una dueña de mala leche legend...

The Flowers I Never Wanted to Photograph I have to confess something: I’ve always found flower photos unbearable. That soft, decorative thing, like an optics calendar. The flower as an excuse to say nothing. The pretty macro shot hung in the living room because it doesn’t bother anyone. I’ve spent years running away from that with all my strength. And yet here I am, publishing flowers. The difference is in the place. These are not just any flowers. They’re from my garden in Totana. The place where I grew up. The land I return to. And when I crouched down to photograph them, I wasn’t looking for beauty — I was trying to truly see something I had spent my whole life looking at without seeing. What I found is not delicate. It’s a bud bristling with hairs like an animal. Two beetles mating shamelessly on a purple flower. A thistle armed with spines like a miniature war star. A dried flower that looks like paper about to fall apart. Thorns. Trichomes. Structures that seem designed by an engineer with very bad intentions. It turns out that up close, flowers are not tender. They are machines for survival. They sting, trap, defend themselves, reproduce with an urgency that is anythi… #naturaleza #fineart #paisaje

Alejandro Maestre

Las flores que nunca quise fotografiar — Macrofotografía del huerto, T

Macrofotografía de las flores del huerto familiar en Totana, Murcia. Una mirada que huye de lo decorativo para encontrar la estructura, la defensa...

What Fernando Does with Pain There are people who, when something bad happens to them, fall apart. And there are people who, when something bad happens to them, make songs. Fernando is one of the second kind. And I’m not saying that as a metaphor — I mean it literally. He has had a very hard year. One of those years that leaves you without solid ground beneath your feet for a while. And instead of standing still and waiting for the ground to come back, he picked up the guitar and turned all that material into music. He has real resilience, built with that emotional intelligence that so characterizes him. Yesterday he played at the Faro Bookstore in Totana. An intimate concert. Few people, chairs close together, no safety distance between the one who sings and the one who listens. I went with the camera. I also went as a friend, which is sometimes hard to be both at once — the one who photographs tends to get behind the lens and miss what is happening in front. But there are moments when the camera gives you access to something you would not see without it. It lets you look without being caught looking. What I saw was someone singing with his eyes closed and his face turned… #musica

Alejandro Maestre

Lo que Fernando hace con el dolor

Hay personas que cuando les pasa algo malo se rompen.Y hay personas que cuando les pasa algo malo hacen canciones.Fernando es de las segundas. Y …