After spending a day at Templo de Debod near downtown Madrid, I came across a lively bunch of people sweeping the leaves from what appeared to be a small sporting field. Out of curiosity, I stood by and patiently awaited commencement of whatever game it was they were planning to play.

Within a couple of minutes, they started tossing small metal balls, similar in size to a baseball, from one side of the rectangular field to another, trying to get as close as possible to a smaller green ball, which appeared to be their target. They were laughing and taunting each other, obviously a tight-knit group of friends who had played this game together several times in the past. I asked their permission to photograph the game—they were fairly annoyed at my presence, but reluctantly agreed. I captured a few shots, then made my way to the train station.