Barcelona: Question about these street performers

[Mike Buckley]

The musicians performed while the others created the human pyramid. The instruments are probably reminiscent of the 17th century but I don't know about the clothing. An explanation was given in Spanish, which I don't speak, that probably explained the background of everything. If anyone knows the tradition being demonstrated in these two photos, I would really love to learn about it.

[TonyW]

The instruments are shawms, which were precursors of the oboe. There are several types of these apparently still used in Catalonia and other parts of Spain and further afield. I saw and heard one form of shawm in Indonesia a couple of years ago. The one on the right looks more modern though since it has keys.

[george013]

Probably they were explaining their performance and telling they expect something from you afterwards.

The red/white colors I've seen in Pamplona during the La Fiesta del Toro. But that's Basque and Barcelona is Catalan.

George

[Shanghai Steve]

Terrific shot!
I don't know anything about this tradition but if you check out "Forces of Nature" by Brain Cox for the BBC, there is a whole thrilling section about this near the beginning. I know that the kids at the top can be as young as 5 and everyone risks injury.

[thetraveler]

IMO, the top picture is rotated a bit and the whites are a bit dull.
I think this would be a much better picture if the legs and feet of the lowest tier had not been clipped.

[george013]

IMO, the top picture is rotated a bit and the whites are a bit dull.
I think this would be a much better picture if the legs and feet of the lowest tier had not been clipped.

Probably a matter of space and lens. Either no feed or no head.

Mike,
Is this the same lens you used for the bubble picture, 35/f2? No exif in this one.

George

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

Steve: Special thanks to you for the reference to the film. In this case, the child at the top seemed to be about 8 years old. Notice that she is the only person wearing a helmet.

Lew: Notice the buildings on the left and right side of the frame indicating that you tilted the image to the left rather than straighten it. The white tones you produced are not at all to my taste. That's because in the diffuse lighting of the scene, the clothing that we would normally call white have a large amount of grey tones that you eliminated. Moreover, the contrast you introduced is inconsistent in my mind with the quality of the light; it appears odd to me to see so much contrast in such diffuse light. Considering the amount of traveling you do, surely you understand the limitations of being a tourist and the impossibility, short of being rude, of always being able to include all elements of the ideal composition such as the feet in the bottom row of the human pyramid. Also keep in mind that it would be reasonable to infer from the title of the thread and the text in the first post that I was looking for factual information pertaining to the demonstration rather than thinking these are some of my best images.

George: Yes, it is the 35/f2 lens. I have no idea why you're not able to review the EXIF info. I downloaded the image posted here to my computer and all of the data was in that file. If you want to know other EXIF info, just let me know.

[davidedric]

Mike, best I can do is a Wikipedia link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Many thanks, Dave! I have already forwarded that to my wife.

[thetraveler]

Mike,
You make me laugh.

[Shadowman]

Nice shots.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, John!