APRIL 1957 – On a sunny day, three tourists seek protection from the heat and sunlight next to a tall cactus in San Juan d’Alacant. Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Some historical images just make you smile. Here’s a photo from a trip that distant members of my family made in spring 1957 to San Juan d’Alacant in Spain.
On a hot day, three members of the group seek protection from the heat and sunlight next to a tall cactus in San Juan d’Alacant. They wear large straw hats. The lady on the right protects her bare legs against the sunlight with a large towel. All-in-all, they look rather gloomy.
Of course, this is a staged photo, because the Mediterranean Sea was just a few steps away, and they could have taken a refreshing bath easily.
The photographer shot a few color photos during this trip, and this is one of them. Like all the color shots of the series, the print has aged significiantly over the years (and the negatives have been lost, sadly.) Today, the colors have faded almost completely, and I am happy to have this print restored. It was a high-key image anyway, but the blue sky and red roof tiles are nice to see in color.
I like this image because it expresses the simple fun they had almost seven decades ago. They had been driving all the way from Northern Germany to the South of Spain, a long, unique, and unusual trip. And they apparently enjoyed every bit of it. Today you’d just use a plane and miss all the beautiful details you can only discover on a road trip.
Very nice.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | April 1957 |
| Location | San Juan d’Alacant, Spain |
| Image Source | 7 x 10 cm color photo |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 4581 x 3164 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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