Puerto de Javea, Spain. August 2007.

Not all the games that they play with bulls in Spain end up in the death of the animal. Here the young men of Javea encourage the bulls to follow them into the water. It rarely happens, but when it does there is great celebration and the bull is simply guided to a slipway where it climbs out, back onto the truck.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. April 2004.

This building in the south-east of the city was on or near the front line for much of the 1992-96 siege. Eight years after the siege ended, when I took this picture, it was still impossible to enter the building due to unexploded ordinance, mines and booby traps. This is not unusual in Bosnia, where 10% of the country is even now – twelve years after the siege – a designated minefield. Many factories and schools can still not be used for this reason.

San Vincente del Mar, Galicia, Spain. December 2002.

When the Prestige oil tanker sank, fully laden, off the coast of Galicia in north eastern Spain her cargo soon showed up on the beaches and the rocky coast. I’d never witnessed an oil recovery operation before and I was amazed by the ‘one handful at a time’ nature of the thing. This gentleman had just spent the whole day picking lumps of crude oil off the rocks by hand. His expression says to me ‘I know a little about the true cost of oil’.

Fré Jaake, Painter, Valencia. May 2002.

This was taken in Fré’s studio during what I think of as his ‘cathedrals’ period. He would pin large sheets of canvas up directly on the wall, not bothering with a stretcher, and just get stuck in with a lump of charcoal. He worked very quickly and often within a day he would already have a lot of paint down. There was no source material around that I could see – these amazing Gothic interiors came straight out of his head.

Walking to work, Sudbahnhof, Vienna. October 2003.

Train stations are one of the staples of a photographer’s visual diet. Many people moving past your lens, just passing through, thinking only of where they are going or who they are going to meet and hardly aware of their environment. Sadly many stations now employ staff who’s sole job appears to be telling anyone who pulls out a camera that pictures are forbidden.

Calle Vitoria, Valencia, Spain. May 2002.

What first caught my eye here was the light reflected on the street, and then the shapes painted on the wall which seem to mimic the pools of light, then the back end of the scooter which, for some reason, is sticking out onto the pavement. While I was preparing to take the picture this guy walked past me and hurried down the street, adding a sense of movement, and the composition was completed. This is one of my favourite pictures.

River Sava, Belgrade, Serbia. February 2004.

The distinct geometry of the world we inhabit becomes very obvious from an elevated vantage point. Sometimes this seems like cheating to me, after all, I want to capture the world the way I see it, not the way it looks from some unusual perspective. It’s why I don’t use short or long lenses, and why I’m not interested in macro or aerial photography. In this case I was walking up a bridge ramp and this is simply what I saw looking over the edge – so I think it’s allowed.

Fiestas Patronales, Segorbe, Spain. September 2007

The town fiestas in Spain, when the main square is covered with sand and barriers are built around it, offer the local youths the opportunity to show off any skills they have in working with bulls. This is mostly little more than good natured fooling, but sometimes someone steps out of the crowd who clearly knows what he’s doing. This chap, who has take the time to dress properly for the occasion, is executing a perfect pass with a young bull.

Vlădila, Romania. February 2005.

The people who live in rural Romania are almost universally poor by western European standards. Cars are rare and the horse and cart is a common sight. Yet, typically in such places, the people are among the most charming and good humoured I’ve ever met. In February there isn’t too much for the people to do apart from gather fuel, so they were very happy to hang around and chat with a curious foreign photographer.

Plaza Redonda, Valencia, Spain. September 2002.

Sunday mornings are always the time for the pet animal market in the centre of Valencia. This gentleman, a budgerigar breeder, was standing on the sunlit side of the small circular plaza with the light falling on his back and his white table acting as a reflector in front of him. I don’t think he was really as sinister as he looks.