Ryanair Magazine have finally updated their website, so I can proudly reveal my latest article, Trashion Victims: Recycled Chic in Barcelona, which has been on planes since mid-Sept. (I have no idea why Ryanair runs magazines from mid-month to mid-month, rather than simply ‘September’ ‘October’ etc, but there you go!).
I got the idea for the article from Time Out Guide to Barcelona 2007 edition, which had a short stub about various exciting recycling projects in the city (in fact from the same propitious stub I also got the lead for another article: ‘Recycled Sounds’, about Cabo San Roque band, which will be published shortly in Easyjet Magazine). After a bit of Internet research, I got in contact with a company called Demano, who luckily turned out to be the original recyclers of PVC posters in the city (these huge events posters are made out of expensive, durable plastic which was being buried at great expense to the environment, but which Demano turn into trendy bags – amongst other things). A very charming lady called Marcela Manrique invited me to their workshop so she could tell me more about the project – it was a lovely office in Poble Nou, full of trendy 20-late-somethings and I could have quite happily subscribed for a job there! But I won’t tell you what she had to say because it’s all in the article. After interviewing Marcela I nosed around town meeting the bizarre but brilliant Brazilian, Felipe McWallace, an artist and recyclomaniac, who supplied most of the article’s juicy quotes, as well as the affable Samuel Nualart and his partner who were working on a similar project to Demano but using original artists’ drawings on recycled canvasses – see Pinzat.
Once I’d gathered all the material I was put in contact with Barcelona-based photographer Susana Gellida (who thankfully spoke better English than my Spanish. We were able to talk and I was able to communicate my ideas to her – vital for getting images that match the story.) and I think she did a superb job of chronicling the piece in pictures. As bags are a tough subject to make visually exciting, I wasn’t surprised that the editor opted for shots mostly of Felipe with his dreadlocks and iconic sartorial style, outlandish customised bikes and chaotic junk-filled ‘laboratory’ (LABpukO on C/Palma de Sant Just). It meant a slight re-edit on the text, as the editor also wanted to start the piece with a quote from him (and you can certainly expect a post about a writer’s response to being edited soon in this blog!), but I think it came out really well.
Ok, I hope you enjoy the article, and please comment below with any feedback etc.
Oh and a quick post script! It seems I am sharing publishing honours in the magazine with my friend Steve Fallon, who I met when helping him with nightlife advice on Krakow for the Lonely Planet guide to Poland… (he really couldn’t have come to a better person;). Check out his amusing article describing just a few of the joys of being a travel writer.
Duncan Rhodes - Travel Writer 