Postcard from Cordoba, Spain: Strolling through 80 years of photographs on the way to lunch

images from “50 Fotografias con Historia,” XVI Bienal de Fotografia de Cordoba

Fifty images providing a glimpse of the past 80 years of the history of photography in Spain stretched out along Paseo de la Victoria earlier this year, flavorful tapas for us on the way to Mercado Victoria.

The large photographs were assembled for the XVI Bienal de Fotografia de Cordoba. Rather than try to show you snapshots of photographers’ famous works, I grabbed a few details caught in passing between panels. There are a few whole images on the website, including my favorite of the flying seminarian playing soccer taken by Ramon Masats in Madrid in 1959.

tosta de cecina with brie and tosta de salmon with goat cheese, La Queseria, Mercado Victoria

Mil Sabores, Mercado Victoria

lamb and vegetable couscous, Bocaito Andulusi, Mercado Victoria

falafel, Bocaito Andalusi, Mercado Victoria

tempura battered queso de cabra with tomato marmelade, La Queseria, Mercado Victoria

pastries, Bocasito Andalusi, Mercado Victoria

Right: detail of “Guardias de asalto en el carrer de la Ciputacio,” Agusti Centelles, 1936

Left: detail of “Wannabe,” Elisa Gonzalez Miralles, 2017

tablas, Mercado Victoria

tortillitas de camarones, La Pescadoteca, Mercado Victoria

Mercado Victoria

olives, Mercado Victoria

smoked tuna tost and matrimonial tost pairing an anchovy and a sardine, Mercado Victoria

Right: detail of “The Beatles,” Joana Biarnes

padron chiles, O’Pulpino, Mercado Victoria

Left: detail of “Fidel Castro,” Enrique Meneses, 1958. Right: detail of “La Nina Blanca,” Carlos Perez Siquier, 1958.

We wandered among the photographs twice as we made our way to pick out lunch from among the 30 stalls housed in Mercado Victoria. Cordobese delicacies and international dishes are found in the culinary market that opened in 2013 in a wrought-iron and glass zinc-roofed pavilion dating from 1877.

Normally we tend to find food halls of this type too touristy, but Mercado Victoria has the advantage of being removed from the main tourist zone around La Mezquita. Most customers were locals on their lunch hours, and tables were abundant. And with real plates and wine glasses, lunch there was pretty civilized.

Apologies for scrambling up culinary and photographic art, but for us they were a shared experience.