Valencia, Spain, in the 1950s
With a detour in France.
Most Fridays I send out an email that features photos from the Rupert Leach Collection, snaps taken from the personal reels of View-Master’s Director of Photography in the 1940s and ‘50s. These never-before-published images show alternative shots of some commercial View-Master reels and personal photos of Leach, his wife Poppy, and others.
I try to get to the bottom of the people and places pictured within despite the limited context provided by mostly unmarked reels. Let’s dig in!
I’m having some technical difficulties lately! I upgraded my phone and it made taking View-Master snaps SO HARD. The three stupid iPhone lenses on the 16 Pro are NOT conducive to my hobby, and I’m now thinking about getting an older, cheapie phone just for View-Master. I’ll do anything to not have to pull out the scanner with Photoshop! Between my new phone and the chromatic aberration of the lenses I’m using? Man! I’ll stop complaining and just say that I am working on a new setup. Until then, here’s the best I can do.
Hey! We haven’t seen Poppy in a minute! She always looks so sharp!
Here she is in front of a beautiful array of flowers, of course. The reel itself just says “Valencia” on it, so this week we are in Spain!
The second photo is confounding. Because I did a bunch of visual searching and the Internet tells me this is Sainte-Anne de Sabarat church in France, not in Spain. I’m guessing Leach made a mistake on this reel because the resemblance to the church in France is unmistakable. The 13th century bell tower is stunning.
Since it’s located in southwest France, perhaps this photo was taken by Rupert on the way to Valencia.
This is the city center of Valencia.
Here’s a postcard of the same area dated 1956:
From 1939 to 1979 this was called the Plaza del Caudillo. From 1987 to present it has been known as Plaza del Ayuntamiento. From what I could glean about this spot, it’s been the heart of Valencia for hundreds of years! The Plaza is full of historic buildings connected to the rich history of Spain and of Valencia in particular.
This is the Gothic bell tower of the Valencia Cathedral. It is 50.85 metres high and was built between 1381 and 1424. Access to the tower is from inside the Cathedral by means of a spiral staircase with 207 steps. An 18th century steeple crowns the Miguelete belfry.
A girl stands in front of a lovely display of flowers.
Another angle of the gothic tower in Valencia. In his personal photos, Leach really enjoyed taking 3D photos with overlapping buildings to provide depth in the camera.
I assume this is related to the Holy Week festivities we saw in this reel from Seville that I featured a few weeks back. Holy Week in Valencia is also a very big deal and has an interesting connection to its geography! I found this detail pretty interesting:
Although it has points in common with other places in Spain, the Semana Santa Marinera in Valencia is rooted in tradition in the seaside neighbourhoods, such as Cabanyal, Canyamelar and Grau. These neighbourhoods have managed to maintain their identity over the years. It is there where the fishermen’s guilds traditionally grouped together in brotherhoods to parade in procession.
Pretty fascinating stuff. I can’t believe how many amazing things across the globe Rupert and Poppy bore witness to and photographed in 3D. Such glamorous globetrotters!
That’s it for this week! Thanks for playing along! Please be sure to hit the ❤️ button to let me know you’re follow along out there.
Regarding your photographic difficulties, check out the “Add a lens” section of this DPReview article.
https://m.dpreview.com/learn/0023524972/simple-tricks-to-get-more-out-of-your-smartphone-camera
What a scenic town! How does this reel compare to 1703 Valencia (not sure if I have that one)? Was thinking, "Valencia should be a single reel!" and checking your spreadsheet, I see that it is. :)