Ben Curtis
City Expert
Ben Curtis originally trained as a photographer and a philosopher. After graduating, he spent three years in London before deciding that life in Spain was a much more appealing alternative. In 1998 he traveled to Madrid to learn Spanish and concentrate on travel writing and photography. Despite initial plans to carry on toward the coast, he has spent the last eight years in the Spanish capital, where he lives with his Spanish wife.
Having worked as an English teacher and translator, Ben now divides his time between writing and editing for travel publishers such as Fodor’s and Lonely Planet, and independently producing a range of podcasts on Spain, learning Spanish and Spanish cuisine, for his website Notes from Spain (www.notesfromspain.com). His podcasts about Madrid and Spain have been featured by BBC and Fodor's.
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Noah Shaye
Photographer
Noah began to be interested in photography when he was around 25 years old. During this time, he was traveling all over the world on cruise ships, working as a professional musician - something he still does today ("I mean the part about being a professional musician. I’m no longer on cruise ships!"). Taking advantage of this situation, he bought his first SLR camera, primarily as a hobby, but also to try and create some life long memories from all the amazing places he was fortunate enough to see. On one particular ship, he traveled to more than 50 countries in ten months!
Around 2003, this “hobby” of his started to become something more. Being a professional musician, he was already constantly surrounded by other artists, musicians, actors, and so on. He began to take pictures of his fellow musicians, performing just for fun, and as they say, one thing led to another, and he began to get work as a photographer. Since then, he's done numerous CD cover art, photos for websites, and many headshots.
He really loves working with people and especially musicians! He has a special affinity with other musicians because he's one himself, and he feels that connection definitely comes through when he does a session with other artists. They can sense the fact that he's one of them, and this really helps the sessions to go along smoothly, and helps the artists to come across very naturally.
He's currently living and working in Madrid, Spain where he's been for the past seven years. If you ever visit, please drop him a line to say hi!
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