Dérive I

Santander. I was born here but I don't know these streets anymore. I haven't lived here for a long time but that's not why I don't recognize the places. There is something //unwelcoming// about the city. [[move on|A place for music]]

I am here because there are not that many places where you can park your car for free anymore. Something about making people move their cars to allow other people to park theirs. Some thinly veiled excuse to take people's money. //Unwelcoming//. <img src="derive/P1.png"> A music school. A //[[conservatory]]//. This is a place for music as much as a slaughterhouse is a place for eating a //filet mignon//. [[move on|Gypsies]]

The //Conservatorio Jesús de Monasterio// is a music school named after the violin player Jesús de Monasterio. The place has a certain //dark gravitas// to it. Probably due to overzealous parents sending their kids here. [[back|A place for music]]

There was a girl walking two dogs. A big one, white with a sad look in its eyes. And a smaller one, brown with pointy ears, jumping up and down. She smiles at me and I smile back. Down some stairs. <img src="derive/P2.png"> Every house around is made of bricks. Overwhelming, pale browns and reds. The bright coloured playgrounds only reinforce the contrast. Let's constantly remind these people they can't afford better, and therefore, they don't //deserve// better. [[move on|Gypsies 2]]

There are bunch of kids shouting. Aggresive, not violent. A couple of open cafeterias. Some people inside, just talking. They look genuinly happy. <img src="derive/P3.png"> There is a fence separating the street from a small field. Cities are built to prevent people from experiencing nature. [[move on|Gypsies 3]]

I don't go into the field. An old woman walks slowly on the other side of the road. She is using a cane made of dark wood. <img src="derive/P4.png"> I can hear laughter. [[move on|Cafeteria]]

I walk down through some narrow street I don't recognize. There are escalators on these streets but they aren't working. Some guy says that the police has to turn them on because they need some special key and that it's all a big hassle. I believe him. I find a place that, in my mind, only existed as a //feeling//. Anxiety stops me on my tracks. It's a school I went to when I was four or five. It still looks threatening and I can't bring myself to take a photo of it. <img src="derive/P5.png"> I keep walking down the streets and get to a cafeteria. I get a (very good) coffee and sit outside. I wrestle with my camera trying to get a shot but there is just too much light for the shutter speed I need. I want a new camera. [[move on|Joints]]

I remember the area. It has changed but it's still vaguely familiar. I used to live here. I walk close to walls I've never been close to. They all smell of urine. <img src="derive/P7.png"> The graffiti says "Joints". [[move on|Politics]]

The amount of sloped streets in this city is just silly. <img src="derive/P8.png"> An abandoned, brown jacket right in front of the Parliament. It's not a particularly interesting building, grey and boring. [[move on|Water]]

A slight, on-and-off drizzle starts just as I walk to the //Park of Water//'s metalic doors. <img src="derive/P9.png"> Four young people walk past me. They are speaking in french. [[look closer|Water 2]]

I don't think I've ever been in this park before. <img src="derive/P11.png"> There is a streamlet that crosses the park. A couple of people were shouting at each other about something. [[move on|Trains]]

From the bottom of part of the park, you can see a train station and mountains. <img src="derive/P12.png"> There are many //political manoeuvres// that involve high speed trains and other nonsense going on right now. It's kind of funny listening to politicians. [[move on|Books]]

The bay is a couple of blocks away from me but it could be a hundred miles away and I wouldn't know. It didn't use to be like, I don't think. <img src="derive/P13.png"> There is a book fair going on behind these drawings. [[move on|UGT]]

There are people wearing spanish republican flags in the park. A trade union has organized meetings all over the country. <img src="derive/P15.png"> Everyone here is either a white, middle age person with terrible clothes or a kid holding a balloon and wondering what is going on. I don't like crowds. They are singing hymns or chants or something now. [[move on|Market]]

There is a market across the street. <img src="derive/P16.png"> It feels awkward walking into it. Taller buildings surround it. People look at you funny when you are sitting on the floor trying to take pictures. [[stay|Broken camera]]

I think water went into my camera sensor. Time to head home. [[leave|Leave]]

Thank you for reading. There is a map of the whole journey (there are a couple of extra photos included in the downloadable material) below. <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=z107dk9clBdc.kaKNh_4Gbx1Y" width="640" height="480"></iframe> [[Use of the photographs outside this project]] [[Credits]] [[Read again|Front page]]

Photography and words by <a href="https://twitter.com/garm">Garm</a>. Powered by <a href="http://twinery.org">Twine</a>.

You miss most things. I like this kind of walking. <img src="derive/P10.png"> [[move on|Inside river]]

The photographs included in the original text (that is, those in PNG format) are licensed under the terms of the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC 4.0 license</a>. If you want to use any of these photographs in a commercial project, buying my high quality (RAW) originals available at <a href="http://garm.itch.io/derive-i-santander">my itch.io store</a> grants you permission to do so.

<h1>Dérive I: Santander</h1> [[Begin|Start]] [[Credits]] [[License]] [[Use of the photographs outside this project]]

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">Dérive I: Santander</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://twitter.com/Garm" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Garm</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.<br />