Valverde: Photography is something very serious in my life FC Barcelona Barcelona coach enjoys taking pictures

The first interview granted by Ernesto Valverde to a medium that is not from Barcelona isn't to talk about football, but to reflect on what is more than just a hobby: photography.

Barcelona's coach has spoken about how important it is for him to take advantage of his cameras.

"It's clear that photography is a way to escape, but it's not a hobby for me, it's something very serious in my life," he said to La Vanguardia.

"When I was 17 years old, playing at Alaves, I was studying to get an industrial masters in electronics, a job that I never practiced.

"At that time I liked to take photos but more as a hobby, until one day, with my first salary as a footballer, I asked a friend to bring me a camera from the Canary Islands.

"It cost me 40,000 pesetas, I remember perfectly."

Valverde gets emotional when he talks about the various stages of picture taking.

"That moment when you are in the laboratory and you smell acetic acid, a fixative, the developer that you have mixed yourself at home..." he continued.

"You turn off the light inputs and you put the red light bulb on, you put the paper in the bucket and you see the image come out, that moment is amazing."

Though he is well known as an ex-football player and coach, Valverde defines himself as a photographer.

"I am a trainer as well as a photographer," he added.

"I like to educate my eyes a lot by looking at books and I admire those photographers who have the patience to wait for good light and perfect a good frame.

"I'm more immediate and visceral and I'm also nonconformist with my work.

"I want my photos not to be very comfortable or friendly, I want my work to be different."

He's even been known to have scenes of death in his work.

"I am not very aware of that but perhaps I do it to stir consciences," he said.

"I find that death is photogenic, I use death as a wake up call.

"Look, I don't think too much about death but I think it's normal for children to bury their parents, I have three children, so..."