The towers of Madrid They have been defining the capital's skyline since 2004. Among them, in fact, is the crystal tower, the tallest building in Spain and the fourth in the European Union, as well as a very recent addition, caleido, opened last year.
The imposing profile of these skyscrapers has served as a muse for the photographer Jose Angel Izquierdo who already published in 2016 a spectacular time lapse showing the famous beauty of the skies of the capital.
In that work, the towers were also protagonists: “I live on the outskirts of Madrid, in Las Matas, and that allows me to have some privileged views of the city . In the mornings, before going to work, the first thing I did was look at the sky, and if it seemed interesting to me, I took the camera ”, remembers the professional.
“The towers, at first, I used them more than anything as a composition element for my landscapes. Sometimes he gave more prominence to the sky, others to the towers… ", he continues. Little by little, and without having planned it, they became the main characters of his shots.
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After so much time portraying them, however, their armor of steel, glass and concrete has not lost its appeal for Izquierdo: “ The skies of Madrid never disappoint, and the towers, less so. There are many different frames to discover and unrepeatable moments that we can continue to enjoy. For example, the other day I took a picture of the moon between the towers, ten years after I made the first one, and I was thrilled when I saw it in the camera viewfinder. No matter how many photos I take of the towers, they are all different, and each one of them has its own charm”.
Same protagonists, very different shots
The sky, in fact, has changed somewhat in these years: “ There are fewer and fewer storms and it rains less, causing do not clean as often as before. This makes there more pollution and particles in suspension, which when taking photos at a long distance is noticeable in the quality of the photo”, points out the professional.
Izquierdo's proverbial capacity for amazement has been, without a doubt, what has made him persevere in his hobby of photograph these architectural giants , a work whose result is now reflected in the self-published book through crowdfunding TITANIDES. Ten years portraying the towers of Madrid. The volume gathers 170 of these images , accompanied, by the details and technical parameters with which it has been made, so that whoever wants can emulate them.
Impressive electrical storm on the profile of the towers
Of course, in all this time, the most special memory that he takes with him is that of having been able to photograph the towers from the top of the crane they assembled to build caleido, 190 meters above the ground . “It is a unique and unrepeatable photo”, concludes Izquierdo.