Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Prague: Wenceslas Square
I went to Prague a few weeks ago. The first night I arrived, I went out for a walk. I headed up Wenceslas Square and ended up at the top end of the square, near the National Museum. In front of the museum is a statue of St (King) Wenceslas. I'm a complete sucker for the square. I've been to Prague twice, but before I was ever there, I remember seeing TV footage of the square in 1989, full of students and demonstrators, implementing the Velvet Revolution. Everybody clustered around the statue of Wenceslas. There's a photo of them here. In front of the statue, there's a plaque to Jan Palach, a student who set fire to himself in the square in 1968, in protest at the Soviet invasion. The square is to Prague what Place de la Bastille is to Paris. This is where the people protest and where governments are overthrown. When you ponder all of Prague's history and especially the two big events of the communist period, in 1968 and 1989, it's hard not to feel emotional when you're looking down at this historical, beautiful, revolutionary square.
So - my first night. It was late - maybe 11pm - and I only had the Mju. I headed up to the Museum, walked onto the first terrace and looked down on the square. This is what I saw. The square is actually more of a long rectangle. I wanted to bring back a photo of the memory. It's one of my favourite places in Prague. So, what's the best way to photograph this? What I did was this: switch off the flash, put the camera on the balustrade, point the camera out at the square, set the timer and let the Mju do its thing.
And this is what I got, which I reckon was the best photo I took in Prague. Click it for a slightly bigger version.
Olympus Mju-II, Fuji 400CN chromogenic b/w film.
On the print and maybe your screen, you can see all the way down the square. This is a very sharp print. I'm planning to blow it up to an 8x12 print and frame it. There's a bit of tourist info about the square here.
It is somewhat annoying - although predictable in some ways - that despite the money I have spent on cameras over the years and despite the fact that I can take the occasional good photo with an SLR or TLR, sometimes even guessing the exposures, the best photos often come from this lovely little camera. ¶ 8:58 PM
So - my first night. It was late - maybe 11pm - and I only had the Mju. I headed up to the Museum, walked onto the first terrace and looked down on the square. This is what I saw. The square is actually more of a long rectangle. I wanted to bring back a photo of the memory. It's one of my favourite places in Prague. So, what's the best way to photograph this? What I did was this: switch off the flash, put the camera on the balustrade, point the camera out at the square, set the timer and let the Mju do its thing.
And this is what I got, which I reckon was the best photo I took in Prague. Click it for a slightly bigger version.
Olympus Mju-II, Fuji 400CN chromogenic b/w film.
On the print and maybe your screen, you can see all the way down the square. This is a very sharp print. I'm planning to blow it up to an 8x12 print and frame it. There's a bit of tourist info about the square here.
It is somewhat annoying - although predictable in some ways - that despite the money I have spent on cameras over the years and despite the fact that I can take the occasional good photo with an SLR or TLR, sometimes even guessing the exposures, the best photos often come from this lovely little camera. ¶ 8:58 PM
