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Fifty Years Ago: Aqaba in Almeria  

Fifty years ago, in April of 1962, the Algarrobico beach on the southeastern coast of spain was bustling with activity as two hundred local workers constructed a replica of the Red Sea port of Aqaba circa 1916 for the filming of Lawrence of Arabia. They took three months to construct 300 false-front buildings and a quarter mile sea wall. The crew planted palm trees, trucked in from Alicante, placed four full-size canons on the hills above, and brought 450 horses and 150 camels from Morocco. Hundreds of local fishermen and gypsies served as extras. In the film, British officer T.E. […]

The House of the Bride  

Seeing Constellation Theater’s innovative production of Lorca’s Blood Wedding reminded me of the script’s explicit references to the barren landscape of Almeria. The set is minimal, as it should be, to highlight the isolation of the characters and the unforgiving environment they inhabit. In an exchange in the first act, the groom’s mother complains of the distance they had to travel to reach the bride’s remote house, “a four hour journey and not a house or a tree.” The bride’s father laments the dry earth and how he “had to labor over it and shed tears to get anything from […]

Art of Carlos Cara  

Digital artist and graphic designer Carlos Cara created some outstanding collage images for the Festival de Cortometrajes (short film festival) a couple of years ago, incorporating the title ‘Once Upon a Time in Almeria. Check out more of his work on his deviantART page.

Once Upon a Time in Almería  

During the 1960s and 1970s, the region of Almeria, Spain, was host to dozens of filmmakers who constructed elaborate movie sets, invoking locations from the American Southwest to Bedouin Arabia. Films shot here include Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia, Patton, and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood. Film directors sought to manipulate the otherwise uninhabitable landscape in order to create a world more imaginary than real. Four decades later remnants of the old movie sets remain in the desert, providing seemingly tangible evidence of human settlements that never really existed.

Interview on WAMU  

Friday’s Metro Connection on WAMU carried a segment on my ‘Once Upon a Time in Almeria’ exhibition at the Embassy of Spain. The segment appeared, appropriately enough, on their annual Haunted DC Halloween special. I walked through the exhibit with reporter Emily Berman as we talked about the history of Almeria, about visiting deserted locations before dawn, and about the ghosts of movies past. The audio segment is available on the WAMU website . From Metro Connection’s summary: During the 1960s and ’70s, Almeria, a province on the southern coast of Spain, hosted dozens of filmmakers and movie stars. Even […]

Fotoweek DC Schedule  

Exhibit Open: Once Upon a Time in Almeria Embassy of Spain, 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC Visiting hours: M-Th 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, F 9:30 am to 2:30 pm More details here

Press Coverage: Once Upon a Time in Almeria  

My exhibit of photographs ‘Once Upon a Time in Almeria‘ is open at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, DC, through November 16.  We’ve had some great press coverage of the exhibit so far, especially in Spain. I did an interview with the EFE news agency which appeared in several papers, WAMU gave a shout out via Art Beat, and La Voz de Almeria devoted a full page to the opening. Look for more coverage forthcoming from WAMU and other outlets.  Upcoming events include: Thursday, October 18, 6:30-9:00PM: Film Program and discussion on landscapes of the spaghetti western Wednesday, November 14, 6:30-8:30PM: […]

Press from Almeria …  

The article is also available online on the La Voz website here.

Exhibition: Once Upon a Time in Almería — opening September 13  

La Voz Article