Rioboó

José Martinez Rioboó
Another one of the photographs digitized by my sister in Granada.
No record of the caption, title, or year in frame; let’s say ca. 1910s.

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I wonder how the value of this photograph changes without a caption, without context. I don’t even know what city it was in anymore; who the woman was. Which season, what year. She is wearing black, as her daughter will – there is a certain type of older woman in Spain who is always in a black dress & loose shawl or cape. Especially still in the pueblos. Potted plants, the terrace – something about the black bleeding around the edges gives the impression it is an actual memory surfacing out of darkness, or that it is a POV shot from a silent film.

I am in Granada, now. It’s a little overcast. I’m on my second cup of coffee. Let’s say she was standing on a terrace in Granada.