Julien and I were walking on the Promenade du Lac, where we were surrounded by Smartphones (shooting the Jet d’eau), selfies (with the Jet d’eau in the background) and the latest cameras (taking pictures of the Jet d’eau). Suddenly we saw a camera obscura, standing in the middle of the pedestrian sidewalk. Carlos Cosmea Fdez was next to it. He looked like a (gorgeous) bohemian, looking very proud and wearing folklore clothes.
Nowadays, pictures are taking at the blink of an eye: push the button and share your “masterpiece”, satisfying your need to exist, to exhibit and to admire yourself like Dorian Gray. Carlos and his Fotografia Minutera just seemed from another world.
Julien then said to me: “Come on, let’s do a portrait of us”.
The price of a portrait is displayed above the large format photographic camera: 15CHF for a photo, 20CHF for a photo and its copy. We struck the pose … for a looooong time.
The picture took time to develop: Carlos controlled the time of exposure, the light and manipulated his magic box like a chemist . The development time allowed Julien and myself to get to know Carlos.  He’s Spanish. He has just settled down in Divonne-les-Bains and intends to stay in the region for a month. Today, he decided to share his art on the Promenade du Lac, but the place left him a little puzzled. He wants to discover the city of Calvin and immortalize its citizens. We recommended a few (better and more underground) places where he could use his vintage camera: he now looks forward to meeting you!
We left after some time with two real pictures in our hands on silky paper: it felt as if we were holding a treasure that will soon become an unforgettable memory… If you feel like it, follow Carlos on Facebook and you will know where he is in Geneva or call him or email him for a private session. He will only be around for a month…

Photography © Julien Herger
Carlos can be reached by telephone too
+34644973307