Lina Aguasca is a resident of Sant Fost de Campsentelles, with two great passions: Meteorology and photography. She has been sharing her snapshots of the sky in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos for almost three years.
In November his summer autumn photograph was selected as the best Reader's Photo. Her love for the weather and its constant changes has led her to practically be a weather reporter in search of the most spectacular phenomena. Sunrises, storms, pockets of water, hail and all types of cloud formations. In addition, it has its own weather station and also observes astronomical phenomena.
Her summer fall photo was selected as the best reader photo for November. What did this recognition mean to you?
I take photographs not to receive recognition, but as a hobby and because I think that photography is an ideal way to monitor the weather through images. Actually, I am a person who does not like to brag. I always think that a picture is worth a thousand words and that through photography you can make clear what is happening in a specific place at a certain time. It is a way for citizens to know the weather in a specific place on any given day. And what better way than a photograph to explain and give a weather forecast?
How did you manage to capture it? Why did you decide to share it on the La Vanguardia Readers Network?
Well, because last summer was not a normal summer, but rather it lasted until November, leaving autumn a little out of place. I was walking on the beach in the morning and I was surprised that it was such a spectacular day and that there was a person sleeping on a lounge chair. It was an abnormally tropical picture. With that image the process that we are experiencing with climate change and that the Mediterranean is becoming tropicalized was expressed. It is not normal for the Mediterranean to reach more than 20 degrees in the month of November when it should be cold.
Is your photography for aesthetic pleasure or do you use it for some scientific dissemination?
I like that photography is always linked to dissemination, because I think it is a small meteorological illustration. If I share a photograph I always add a short text explaining what I observed, both in my town, Sant Fost, and in other places. For this reason, I use my weather stations with which I capture things such as atmospheric pressure or minimum and current temperatures. Sometimes, I have shown photographs that may not have been spectacular but that allow you to observe and show different cloud formations. For example, on November 13 everyone saw how the sky was full of altocumulus clouds that had taken on those reddish tones. They can also be stratocumulus clouds, cirrus clouds, airplane contrails, etc. Learning the types of clouds and knowing how to differentiate them all is a whole science.
Why did you choose La Vanguardia to contribute your photos?
Because La Vanguardia has always been my reference newspaper, more than any other. Since it's from Barcelona, it's more like home. It is from here. Also the fact that I have chosen the written press instead of television is due to the fact that on TV there is a lot of image saturation. There are many people who contribute and then perhaps there is less chance that the photographs will end up being published. Furthermore, I also prefer the written press because I always think that something written on paper, even if it is not written in a diary, remains for posterity. It is a way to create information and share photographs that remain there forever, without being forgotten. And now that we have become so digitalized, I always wonder if things will really stay forever or end up being lost on the internet.
How did your passion for photography begin?
For my father. As soon as he could, he bought a camera, which I still keep at home. He didn't stop photographing things. I couldn't stop taking photos of myself, since I was an only child, and I have photo albums from when I was little. I took photos of everything, and as you grow up you see a person in a house who is with the camera all day, well you also end up getting fond of it. He, however, did not do meteorological photography.
And your passion for meteorology?
It also started many years ago because I got into the habit of watching the weather on television. In Catalonia people are very fond of watching the weather and I think that many people I have spoken with have also become fond of this. I don't know why.
At home, my father always called me when Antoni Castejón was going to give the weather and we were always more interested than current news. The isobaric maps, the anticyclones, the storms and at the age of eight I was amazed by Meteosat. I find it very interesting and always caught my attention.
However, I didn't want to be a meteorologist because I was always fighting with numbers and went for letters. I had no idea of studying meteorology at any time. Later, when I got married, my ex-partner also really liked meteorology. It was something that united us and we started taking photographs and participating in the forum of Alfred Rodríguez Picó, former TV3 weatherman. In fact, there, thanks to a photography contest, is where I got the professional weather station that I use.
He is part of various networks of amateur meteorologists, both nationally and internationally. What does this experience give you? Why are these citizen and volunteer networks so important to capture the evolution of meteorology?
I believe that these citizen networks provide a lot of information to meteorologists because it is impossible for Meteocat or the AEMET to reach the entire territory. They cannot have stations in all the towns in Catalonia, and thanks to amateurs who have their own stations and put them online, they can collect data from everywhere. In addition, many of the non-professional stations are very well maintained against inclement weather or the action of animals and, therefore, their better maintenance makes their information more reliable. Sometimes you can find leaves, animal droppings or dead spiders. If you are really passionate about meteorology, taking care of your weather station is like someone who has a car and shines it and cleans it. Because for example, if you have not done adequate maintenance, one day it will rain and it will not adequately tell you the exact amount of rain that has fallen.
I have mine in a room where I have a computer always open because the weather stations always have to be connected, since every five minutes they are sending data on temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, whether it has rained or not, or wind. It can also be outside, on the street, at zero degrees, since there is a UPS with the computer, some screens and the cameras that I have that always look at the sky.
Is day or night better to capture the most spectacular images?
I like all types of photography. The most beautiful things are the sunrises and sunsets, but in the end I have so many sunrises and sunsets that it is always the same. But more than a preference between day or night, the question is finding the right moment and being able to experience yourself an incredible phenomenon that is not just a few altocumulus clouds or a sunrise, which there always is. I'm talking about extreme phenomena that perhaps there are people who have not been able to experience in their lives, and that are not common to see here as they are in the United States, where tornadoes are seen. For me, this is wonderful. Almost an orgasm.
And what about sunny days or rainy days?
I really like storms. But of course, it's not raining now. Before, with the summer storms, we were going to do weather monitoring. We would get in the car, look at the weather models and where the storm was going to form. You would go to the place and then we would wait for it to start forming. Sometimes it didn't even form and you came home with nothing. But for me it is something indescribable, to be able to feel the strength that nature has, and to enjoy all the things that it gives us for free. A cloud forms out of nowhere, begins to grow and creates a storm and you see everything from the moment there is no cloud until the storm breaks out. You live it all until it finally disperses.
What are the things that capture your attention the most?
Of everything. The parhelions, the solar halos, the lunar halos, the sleeves of water, the hail. There is no specific preference.
It also captures a lot of astronomical phenomena, such as bolides, conjunctions, eclipses... what does this type of observation provide? What attracts you most about the phenomena of the sky and the cosmos in general?
It's something that impressed me when I discovered it. It is fascinating how many meteor showers there are. Before, I only knew, for example, the Perseids, but I didn't know that there were so many meteor showers. I was amazed when I discovered this. This month alone there are a lot. It all started on Twitter when I found the SPMN, the Research Network on Fireballs and Meteorites, a research group of the Spanish Space Agency. They reported a car and out of curiosity I checked my cameras and sent them the information. Then they proposed to me to participate from Sant Fost. What they do is study these phenomena and look for amateur people to invite them to participate. I have cameras that are connected 24 hours a day and I received notifications of fireballs that had fallen at a specific time, so I started checking the cameras and they could have detected many meteorites in one day, without me realizing it. Some may also have fallen in Morocco or France, and I have also captured them. These phenomena have enormous power. It is a way of seeing the immensity and how wonderful life is. We are a speck of dust and, furthermore, we are always running and we never notice things like this. We must learn to enjoy everyday life and the wonder that is the planet we live on.
Do you have artistic/photographic references?
I have no reference, neither artistic nor photographic. I am totally self-taught. I have not looked for artistic references either because I think my photography is rather informative. It is what happens in a place at a specific moment, but focused on time.
It is true that there are many painters who have been inspired by meteorological phenomena when painting. For example, I think of Van Gogh, with the asperitas-type clouds, and how he captured them through painting. He is artistically extraordinary.
Sometimes he accompanies his photographs with poems. What type of poetry does she lean towards? How do you get inspired?
There is no specific type of poetry. When I look at a landscape I have an inspiration and then ideas and things come. Passion, misfortune, sadness. I look for poems and texts on the internet that evoke the same thing as the images, both in Catalan and Spanish. It also depends on your mood and what the phenomena you see may evoke on a personal level. It is a way to express feelings.
Plus, I'm always taking notes all day, about things I see or read. Sometimes you also find interesting topics that inspire you and I write them down. Then with all the scraps I have I use them to make poems and articles.
Would you like to take photos on Mars or take photography trips to the Moon?
Surely, in the future we can take photos on Mars itself, but I have no intention of going. Nothing attracts my attention and I have no need. And I wouldn't take any photographic trips to the Moon either. I think that with what we have here and with everything we are missing, it is better to know what is our own. If we don't even know where we live, why should we go to the other side of the planet? There are wonderful things here, whether it is Spain, Catalonia or even Barcelona. Therefore, first let's know what we have at home and once we have it, if we need more, let's go. I don't have to go to the Moon or Mars, with everything I have here. If I won the lottery, I would take a motorhome, a camera and go explore this world. We have to learn to enjoy everyday life and the wonder that is the planet where we live.
