It’s now been over 4 months since I moved to Madrid. Crazy. I teach English, and have an absurd amount of downtime (thank God for siestas) and like the true gringo I am, I’ve been filling that rest time with loads of work. Now that it’s in it’s second month, I want to introduce you to @reuneretratos 🙂
Upon moving to Madrid, I searched high and low for a portrait photography club, group, meetup–anything. I’d been part of one in Boston and absolutely loved it (if you’re in Boston and looking for something similar, check out @portraitmeet on Instagram). Models and photographers of all skill levels would come together, explore the city, and make portraits together.
“No no, we don’t have anything like that, but sounds like a good idea!”
How dejecting. I really didn’t start out wanting to lead my own photography group, but wasn’t left with many other options. But now that it’s here, I can honestly say it’s been the most rewarding part of my Spain experience so far.
- Reúne: meet, gather.
- Retratos: portraits.
- There’s also a sneaky little “RR” alliteration in there. Obviously, I had to 😉
So far we’ve had two meets. Each time I stood waiting, terrified that no one would show up. Or even worse. That only one or two people would and I’d have to muddle my way through really poor bilingual small talk. But it hasn’t been the case. Each meet has been filled with incredible people, eager to explore a great city and challenge themselves to make collaborative art.
Here are a few more of my favorite shots from the meets so far:
I feel so overwhelmingly grateful towards the people who have come, supported, modeled, taken pictures, and just been excited to connect to this initiative. I can only hope that with more meets will come more learning and opportunities to share art and experiences with you all.
Hasta pronto ❤
Raquel
Check out the complete album of pictures from our last meetup here: http://raquelrossphotography.pixieset.com/reuneretratos/
Join our Madrid Portrait Photography group here: https://www.meetup.com/Madrid-Portrait-Photography-Meetup/