Angelina Hue

I was eight when my mum decided that our family would start going to church – we had always been free-thinkers and didn’t pray to any particular god. Thus began my weekly struggle to get out of bed at an ungodly hour of 7 in the morning for Sunday class, followed by mass. The saving grace: The deep-fried chicken wings and banana bread that was served in the canteen between Sunday class and mass.

As I got older, around 17 years old, I gradually excused myself from Sunday mass. By the time I was in university, I had stopped going to church and instead spent most of my weekends with my then-boyfriends.

These days, I occasionally find myself in a church, not to attend mass but to admire its architecture (gothic’s my favourite style), stained glass work (St. Chapelle in Paris is a great example), acoustics (imagine piped organ accompanied by vocals in rehearsals) and to learn about its history and relationship with the local community.

When my family and I were in Barcelona in the summer of 2011, we made our way to la Sagrada Familia. It was my second visit – I had been here in 2008 when I was travelling on my own in Barcelona, and it was interesting to see some of the new developments in Gaudi’s masterpiece.

Since there must be millions of photos of the church online, I thought that I’d take photos of the people visiting la Sagrada Familia instead. Such as this guy with at least two SLRs and carrying a huge camera bag (which I imagine must have contained at least a few lens).

Most people were probably too busy looking up to notice the pretty lights cast onto the ground by the sunlight passing through the stained glass.

My sister. Both my mum and her have a fear of heights, so they were feeling rather queasy when they descending the narrow, winding and steep staircase.

Me? I’d have gladly sprinted my way down the 400+ steps, especially since I was in my hardy Trippens!

Take five

Who knows how much longer it will take before it is completed? After all, it has been in the making after more than 130 years…

This featured photo was taken with Lomo LC-A using a roll of expired Fuji Superia 400.