Look Over the Wall
By Nelson Campbell
15 Jul 2009
Flying to Philly from San Juan...I had time to spare and decided to catch a cab to Old San Juan and check it out.
I walked through thick wet heat but didn't care - I was wowed by the colourful facades, architecture, the charming narrow streets - my camera gobbled it all up stacking megabyte onto megabyte....I went slow, drinking water, enchanted...
I made my way up a street to where the Atlantic Ocean came into view along with first real sense of the dramatic sweep and expanse of the 16th century El Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the sudden sight of the famously beautiful dome of Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery with its life-size marble angels and saints praying in crowded numbers for the redemption of the souls of the dead.
The expanse of the place - the gentle slope of the grass, people flying kites, children with parents running and laughing....It had a distinctly idyllic feel to it - like a family reunion where the focus is the interaction between a very old, revered and beloved relative and the adoring younger generations.
The severity and necessity of El Morro has been tempered by centuries of wear, but my imagination still filled with visions of blood, battles and intrigue on the places where people now laughed, played and toured. The massiveness of the surrounding walls, some 18 ft thick, the "sentry boxes" known as garitas amazed me - I felt out of time as if I were on European soil.
I walked to a section of wall and touched it - stood on my toes to get a better view over its edge, looked over and out...then down. I did a double take and looked again...There was a basketball court down and at the foot of a section of wall, a garitas to the right of one of the nets. I of course took a picture because it was so odd and seemingly out of place.
I walked further into El Morro, looking down...peeking between the gaps in the walls. I saw houses below the fort walls - some ruined, some dilapidated, a junked out looking car...I saw graffiti and trash. There was a woman and a man sitting on a sort of stoop laughing. A kid ran down the street, a chicken strutted looking for something to peck.
Some young men lounged on a street below me - I shot their picture from afar. I went in for a zoom and found out they knew I was spying on them as they proceeded to give me the collective finger. I started, caught out, then laughed - it was a deserving smack down at my voyeurism.
I looked back at the pristine grounds of El Morro, managed by the U.S. National Park Service a World Heritage Site...looked back in my mind, remembering the charming, clean, cheery streets I had taken to get here...I looked at my map - I looked over the wall. I turned my map 360 degrees, held it closer, took off my glasses, but there was nothing.. no mention of this place I was seeing - no street names - no neighborhood delineation, it was literally a blank spot on my map between El Morro and the Atlantic - it did not exist in spite of its extraordinary location abutting a famous fortress on one side and the Atlantic on the other. What an extraordinary geographical omission.
Only later when I got home I started trying to find out did I learn that what I had seen was called La Perla - a place that ended up fascinating me more than anything else I had seen in Old San Juan- the politics of it, the economic reality of it, the contradiction of all of it, the hypocrisy, the human spirit, dignity, humour and determination of it...the invisibility of something so incredibly vital and pungent with all life has to offer. In a short time, I have found very little solid information on La Perla.
If you get interested - do some of your own research and see what you find. I am glad I looked over the wall - My short visit in San Juan was richer for it.
18 responses
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david ong gave props (15 Jul 2009):
awesome image and great essay! Bravo!
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suzanne said (15 Jul 2009):
Yes...saw 'the finger!' What an insight into the daily lives, tho! Quite an adventure you had Nelson. Hope you were careful.
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Ronnie Ginnever gave props (16 Jul 2009):
This is a extraordinary photoessay, each image builds on the previous one. The story is captivating and deserves to be published. Nelson you are awesome!
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JOE FAILK gave props (16 Jul 2009):
Great photos A very well written and interesting story!
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Michel Vaque gave props (16 Jul 2009):
great essay,well done !
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Michael Ball gave props (16 Jul 2009):
Fantastic and very interesting story!! All you images are excellent!!!
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Andrea Petersen gave props (18 Jul 2009):
I loved your story and collection of pictures which should be published. I am voting.
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elfriede fulda gave props (18 Jul 2009):
This Series and your Essay are such a treat, as we normally would never know nor find out about such a place as La Perla with its cemetary near the ocean...It is fascinating...fabulous work...
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John Linton gave props (18 Jul 2009):
Hell YEAH! Rad!
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Karen K Smith gave props (20 Jul 2009):
Excellent essay and photos...YEAH!
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Alice gave props (20 Jul 2009):
A great essay and a great collection of shots, bravo!
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peggy gardner gave props (20 Jul 2009):
wow, nelson, this is very impressive. you are a very creative writer and these photographs truly unique. nice job.
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peggy gardner gave props (20 Jul 2009):
take me with you next time - we can go visit carlos a. ~
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Deborah Downes gave props (23 Jul 2009):
Wow, Nel, now I'm not only a fan of your pictures, but your writing. Now I feel like I looked over that wall, too. Thanks! A big YEAH vote from me.
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Vidyavati Chandan gave props (23 Jul 2009):
great images! Voted!!
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nema' etebar said (26 Aug 2009):
i have a very interesting story about those streets..
it is a war zone there///but organized if that makes any sense.. -
Christopher J Chalk gave props (30 Aug 2009):
love the images and the essay it's brillant!
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Dawn Duffield (Deleted) gave props (22 Oct 2009):
Excellent and extremely well composed! I have been there too! Ended up in an alley bar sipping rum with much older locals
