469 - Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador
Today we went into the heart of the beast- San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Not exactly a “tourist destination.”
Or so we heard from a recent Google Maps review of the area. The thing about Central America is that opinions online about it are in heavy contrast. You’ll see one person claiming danger, and another touting myth. This often makes it difficult to pinpoint who’s actually experienced these places, versus who’s fear mongering for political purposes.
I like to think it’s somewhere in the middle, and make a decision after reading several recent sources. The general consensus about San Salvador seemed to be that it was generally safe in the downtown area, but sketchy enough to ward off the casual travelers.
Regardless, a strong tug was pulling me in. I’d always loved big cities, and now that we had the chance to check one out in Central America, I was looking for any excuse I could find.
And that I did. The first place of interest I found was an old church called El Rosario, famous for its brightly colored stained glass windows. It was located in the heart of downtown, and was surrounded by several plazas, the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, and the National Palace.
AKA, lots of things to do in the event that one sucks. When shooting in city environments, I like to leave myself several options. There’s too many variables to account for that can lead to difficult shooting conditions- crowds, events, closures, etc.
Since we didn’t want to take the big ole’ van downtown, we decided to park it in front of an upper-class neighborhood and take an Uber in. There were armed security guards right next to our parking spot, and we bribed them with brownies to keep an eye on the van while we were gone. They happily obliged.
And with that, we began our journey to the center of the earth.
To be honest, it wasn’t all that crazy at first. Pretty much the same old scenes you see in any Central American city- janky produce stands, motorcycles squeezing by, crumbling buildings, and people in colorful attire. But as we got deeper, it got a little weird. The half-built buildings slowly turned into half-built shacks, and the fruit stands slowly shifted into overflowing trash cans. It had officially become the worst area we’ve driven through in all of Central America.
On one particular street we drove down, one guy was digging through a 3 foot tall pile of electronic parts, in the middle of the road. Broken glass and TVs were everywhere, and old electronics were even being used as “walls” for the local shops.
Haley gave me a little side eye, and said “Nick… where are we?”
I proudly exclaimed that we had just about arrived at our destination. I think there was a strange part of me that wanted to see extreme poverty. Morbid curiosity?
We got out of the Uber and stepped forward, a little uneasy about our surroundings. Our driver had dropped us off right in front of the El Rosario church, but it immediately became apparent that it wasn’t open as he took off. The thing about Google Maps in Central America is that it’s “open/closed times” are wrong about 63% of the time.
Well, now what?
We looked around, and there were people everywhere. But unlike an American city, a high number of those people were sitting on benches. And they were staring at us like we’d just stepped out of a starship.
Now, we get a lot of looks driving through Central America. But this… this felt like some type of Black Mirror episode where we broke into an alternate dimension we shouldn’t have been in.
However, I did feel vaguely safe. Despite the fact that we went through a few (very) rough neighborhoods on the way in, the actual downtown area didn’t look too bad.
As we had read in a few reviews of the area, the recent President of El Salvador had made significant measures to improve safety in the downtown area. Since there were armed militants every other block, sporting m16s and shotguns, that was very much clear.
Since the our original church idea was closed, we decided to move on to the next best thing- another church. This one was called the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, and was MASSIVE... Apparently one of the biggest in Central America. It had also been visited by Pope John Paul II twice. But guess what? This one was closed too.
Two for two, baby. However unlike the other one, this one was scheduled to open in two hours. The priests were probably out on lunch bingeing pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador.
Well, I guess it’s time to chill on a bench. Ever since I’ve broken my foot, people watching in has become a top activity of mine.
For the next two hours, we slowly faded into the environment like chameleons in a chemical plant. I watched rambunctious ladies slinging coffee from trays around the plaza, business men chirp about on their flip phones, and pigeons flutter in waves.
But we weren’t simply observing the madness, we were thrust in. Haley got pulled into a Xuc dance circle, I was offered sips of beer from drunks, and curious locals offered information to us about the area. The mad circus leaves out no contenders. Needless to say the time passed by fast, and before we knew it, the church was open for business.
And right after entering, I quickly realized it was one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever laid eyes upon. It was absolutely colossal, in every way shape and form. I’ll start by showing you my photo of the front altar:
“Goliath of the Gods”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6
[ISO 2000 ~ 10mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/50s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Gorgeous architecture. Religious or not, you have to appreciate the time and effort put into some of these places. The only other places you see this attention to detail is in places like Vegas or Downtown Disney- which is quite a different atmosphere.
Oh, boy. The editing in this son of a gun was a masterwork. I manually brushed all those walls blue to give it a certain kind of blue/yellow contrast. The biggest thing I learned in this photo was that if there’s not enough color in a shot, I can add it in manually for good measure. The blue in the actual scene was so slight you could barely see it, but here it stands out like a king and makes the photo.
From there I decided to get a more minute scene. I wanted an eerie up close of the candles blowing…
“Flame Pull”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6
[ISO 2000 ~ 10mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/500s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
The reason I chose this photo instead of the 30 other shots I took of this scene was because all the flames were pointing towards Christ for some reason. Felt like some type of message.
The hard part about shooting in a church is balancing respect and wonder. Many people go to these places to pray and feel a sense of peace (it was most definitely a 180 degree contrast from the buzzing town outside it’s doors,) so being aware of them is key.
Here’s a couple steps I take when shooting in churches to respect it’s inhabitants:
Take my hat off
Turn my camera shutter sound off
Act like I’m religious by blessing myself, kneeling every once in awhile, etc.
Avoid using tripod and spend time ensuring handheld shot is straight
Although some of these seem tedious, it works. In places like this there’s almost always security itching for a reason to kick you out, and pretending to observe the faith can make a big difference. Trust me.
Oh yeah, I got one more shot of the stain glass reflection on the wall:
“Damper Rainbow”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6
[ISO 2000 ~ 10mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/400s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That’s about it for this shoot. We got the hell out of there (heh) right when the sun started setting.
Personally, I love pushing my boundaries by exploring these types of areas that are generally not seen by other tourists. I think it’s a way to get creative shots that (few) other people have ever taken. And sure, there’s probably a reason others aren’t bringing $3,000 cameras to a place like this. But hey, I got insurance for a reason.
Stay tuned for the next adventure for a crater that we literally camp in.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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