My 10 Best Medellin Photos

Medellin photos are countless, but I still decided to start my own photography project about a year ago called – “The Rooftops of Medellin”. I always tell people that although I have lived in five different countries and traveled to many more, Medellin is the only place where I have said “I love this city”,  just about everyday since I moved here. Hopefully, if you still haven’t visited Medellin, these 10 photos will inspire  you to visit. If you have been here, I hope they help you to reminiss about why you feel in love with the city.

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Medellin Photos – A brilliant Sunset

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Photo of Medellin at Sunset

 

I love taking Medellin photos at Night

I remember seeing Medellin for the first time at night standing on the balcony of an apartment I was renting. It gave meaning to the often cliche adjective ‘breathtaking’. I think my friends and I spent a good hour or two trying to get the perfect Facebook profile shot with the twinkling lights in the background. Medellin is unlike any other city I had ever seen. Today I have an even better view from my current apartment yet I still can’t get accustomed to how absolutely incredible the city looks. Sometimes I just stand there in awe of the view thinking how in North America only the ultra wealthy could afford views like these.

 

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Posing for a profile shot at my first apartment with Medellin in the background

My obsession with photographing Medellin and sharing it with the world continues to grow at a pretty alarming rate. I almost feel like it is my responsibility to help shed some of the misconceptions and stereotypes associated with Medellin and Colombia as a whole.  At first, whenever I told my friends and family in Canada that I was living in Medellin Colombia, they would always respond by saying something like “Aren’t you scared of being killed” or “Why would you want to live there?” or “Are you trafficking drugs too” . Ignorant right?

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Blue Night – Medellin Colombia

Well I guess I can’t judge them too harshly since if you had asked me what I imagined Colombia to be before I got here, I would have probably pictured a scene from the movie Blow with Johnny Depp – Juan Valdez looking coffee farmers on donkeys, dilapidated tin-roofed shacks, little Cesna airplanes touching down in hidden airstrips in the jungle, and gun toting gangsters dressed in camouflage. Medellin was actually ranked in the top 5 most dangerous cities in world in the 80’s and 9o’s. However over the past 10 years, Medellin has managed to make a complete turn around and is now one of the most progressive and fasting growing cities in the world. As a matter of fact, earlier this year it was dubbed ‘The most innovative city in the world’ – ahead of Tel Aviv and New York City.

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Photo of Medellin from La Cruz  – The Green Valley

The best way to describe Medellin’s landscape would be that it is set in a giant green valley between mountains. Two years ago I arrived to Medellin by bus from Cartagena and I still remember the prominent orange brick high-rise buildings set amidst lush green trees and bamboo plants. The photo above was taken in a small village up in the mountains called La Cruz. La Cruz is one of the really poor areas where many people who were displaced in Colombia’s civil war settled down to start a new life.

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Photo of Parque Lleras in Medellin during the Christmas Holidays

In sharp contrast to the photo from La Cruz, the photo about shows the Parque Lleras area in el Poblado during the Christmas holidays. Millions of Christmas lights compliment the already spectacular view of the mountains. This shot was taken from the Ultra Wellness Gym in the Hotel Charlee.

 

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View of Medellin from Santa Elena

On a trip up to Santa Elena I asked the taxi to pull over for this shot of Medellin. You can see the city in the background flanked by the green mountains.

 

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View of Medellin from The Hotel Dann Carlton Rooftop

 

A few months ago I photographed the rooms at one of Medellin’s premier hotels, The Hotel Dann Carlton. At the end of the day I went up to the rooftop restaurant and found a little ladder that lead to the rooftop. It was beginning to rain and was by no means safe to be up there  on the roof but I took the risk anyways.

 

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Sun Bursts onto Medellin

Medellin is called the ‘City of Eternal Spring’ because of its yearlong springlike temperatures. For a few months a year it rains just about everyday. Within a matter of minutes the weather can change from torrential downpours to picture perfect blue skies with fluffy white clouds. The shot above shows the sun trying to burst through the think grey clouds after a brief shower.

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A view of Estadio from the Hotel Tryp Medellin

 

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Where heaven meets earth – Medellin, Colombia

If you enjoyed these Medellin photos please feel free to share the post with your friends and the rest of the world.

For more of my photos from Colombia and the rest of the world check out my photography page www.joelduncanphotography.com 

and my Facebook page www.facebook.com/JoelDuncanPhotography