En Route to Berlin

Door and Window, Terezin

We're now on the bus, four hours away from Berlin. Prague was an interesting city, a world apart from more western cities like Paris and Vienna. The Soviet influence is still strong here; you can see it in the faces of the people. The older generation in Prague looks hardened with chiseled faces, as if they've drowned years of hardship with beer and vodka. Their dark wrinkles tell the story of the struggle for freedom. The younger generation, though, show a vibrancy not yet touched by that struggle. The women here are beautiful, wearing flirty skirts and low-cut blouses as they strut down the street in pairs. Are they the first generation to escape the hard life, or are they just starting down that path? Time will tell.

A generation before the Soviet rule there was Nazi influence. Wednesday we went to a former concentration camp in a town called Terezin, about an hour outside of Prague. Terezin started out as a sort of military base in the Austro-Hungarian empire, later held POWs and other military and political prisoners, and in the forties under Nazi rule it held many Jews and others of an "inferior race." The whole place was quite eerie. We saw the places where these prisoners slept, ate, were executed, and were cremated. The photo here looks into one of the eating halls, and if I remember right it also doubled as and overflow bunker. It was like a sort of ghost town; it was empty with cobwebs everywhere, and this sort of musk pervaded every room. I felt uneasy the whole time.

Photographically, Prague was yet another failure. I took pictures of the city, but my pictures cannot speak for the city. I tried to get up this morning and shoot from the famous Charles's bridge before dawn (the sun rises at 4:50 a.m. in Prague), but completely overslept. My suspicions before I left for Europe have pretty much been confirmed: that I am photographically not ready for an opportunity like this trip. I feel like I'm trying to sit in with Thelonius Monk when I know my scales and a little theory, but I can't really say anything with my horn yet; I can't put it all together and construct a successful solo. That's not to say I'll give up trying, but there's only Berlin and a short stay in Brugge left for the traveling portion on this trip, and I don't see anything short of a miracle that will allow my skill and photographic eye to improve enough to make those cities successful.

As I read through what I just wrote, it sounds awfully depressing, but I want to make it clear that I am not going around sulking about my boring pictures, and that I most certainly am having a great time on this trip. One thing I believe I have been successful with is separating my photographic pursuits with my enjoyment of Europe. The whole experience has been no less than amazing. The people I'm with are great, and the places I've seen are breathtaking. Last night we went to see Mozart's Don Giovanni in a beautiful opera house (we had good seats!) in the city where it premiered in the 18th century. Afterwards we ate ice cream on a bench in the main city square and just watched people go by on a busy night. That kind of experience is priceless, and I honestly don't care that I don't have a photograph of it.

However, my work is cut out for me when I get back home. I now feel very comfortable with the controls and limitations of my camera, and should be able to focus exclusively on the creative process at home, in locations I am familiar with. By the next time I'm in a special place like this, I should be able to instantly recognize the graphic elements of point, line, shape, form, pattern, texture, and color, and make effective use of the photographic elements like depth of field, motion blur, point of view, and perspective/lens choice. I cannot photographically "waste" another opportunity like this (although I doubt another quite like this will ever arise).

You know, come to think of it, this is a good thing for me photographically, even though I don't consider it a success. Under what other circumstance would I be practically forced to a) Take many photographs everyday, and b) Constantly evaluate the success of those images and my progress as a photographer? I can think of none. If were taking classes in Atlanta right now I'd be lucky if my camera came out of the bag once a week. There has been definite progress in my both my skill as a photographer and my ability to evaluate myself, though that may not be obvious in the images. In that sense, the trip is a photographic success, even if there are few successful images.

OK, I've rambled long enough, and I'm running out of battery on my laptop. Wilkommen in Deutschland!