Location Notations / Plzen / 7 June 2019

An ice cream break after a day of cycling. Plzen, Czechia. I sat on the bench opposite this man and soaked in the day. A beautiful park in the city that brewed its first batch of Pilsner Urquell in 1842 and still brews it to this day. To celebrate his snack, I snapped a picture. Resting against his bike, helmet still on, half eaten dessert. He noticed me soon after and spoke a monologue to me in Czech. I don’t know what he said! But I was able to make out the word “photo.” He didn’t seem to0 upset. The power of ice cream.

I consider biking a hobby of mine back in Austin. However, the only gear he and I have in common is the helmet. Emphasis on hobby. But I understand the rush of endorphins. How challenging it can feel sometimes, but the desire to get back on the bike the second you get off of it. This is all much to my mom’s dismay, who would rather me get places via foot. Oh how I dream of resting against my bike in Europe, ice cream in hand. One day I’ll do it and maybe I’ll stop right here in Czechia and remember this day.

The Nocturnalist / Little Quarter / 6 June 2019

Four friends gathered outside of a convenience store, waiting on a tram, drinking beers in public. In Prague you can be anyone. A drunk in the street, due to different laws. A group of friends people in America would cross the street to get away from. But here, part of the greater community of Czech and also photographable rather than avoidable.

There were four of them, though this picture was taken through the clear plastic wall of the tram stop, restricting my view to one and a half of them. The night time lights reflecting on their skin, on the cobblestone, on the guitar. Prague at night is a challenge to me – shooting at night intimidates me. But Prague at night is begging to be captured. So I will accept the challenge every time.

Where they headed off to, I do not know. Onward to give the music to other people. Perhaps he holds the guitar like that in social settings. There’s no way it’s comfortable. Maybe I will see him in the daylight one day, walk by him on the street, but won’t recognize him. The night brings out showman qualities. The entertainer takes a seat, drinks a beer, rests easy. Then onward. Part of a whole group, but for this moment, part of one and a half.

Around Here / Anti-Babiš Protest / 5 June 2019

120,000 people peacefully protesting, from all over the Czech Republic. Fighting for what they are passionate about. Believing in their own power. Feeling justice to their core and recognizing when integrity is jeopardized. Kids resting on their parents’ shoulders as they learn about justice and integrity, as well. The elderly right by their sides, fighting for a future not just for them but for those that will follow. Loving each other as humans and protesting so that things aren’t better just for you, but for friends, family, co-workers.

Protests make me giddy. There is so much in the world telling us that the people can’t make change happen. While every government is different and pays attention to its people to various extents, a protest is for anyone. Just yesterday I wrote an email to a politician along with thousands of other young people and the next day he issued a change in policy. It is because of our love for people and desire for better that we do these things, we clap along, we chant.

The largest protest in Prague since the end of communism. Though I do not know what the signs said and how the chants translated to English, I know that every shout, sign and wave of their keys was out of pure love.

Not From These Parts / Prague’s Narrowest Street / 4 June 2019

Prague’s Narrowest Street – the type of activity I would normally hate, but ended up loving. After cancelled tour plans, we didn’t know how to spend our day. So naturally we went to a tiny alleyway. It should have been a very anti-climactic moment. We walked there from the Jewish Quarter, the street was gated closed, we sat by the river until it opened, waited our turn to walk through it. The street is so small there are traffic lights that signal which direction can walk through.

This tourist trap was the first time I felt brave enough to unapologetically stick a camera in a stranger’s face. It represents a growth in my photography. I was the first of my friends to walk down the street, myself and two strangers. I had a blast doing an activity that would normally rank at the bottom of my list of things to do. That’s the beauty of a month here. Time to do bottom-of-the-list things and find surprises in them.

The street ends at a restaurant and isn’t very long in length. Yet tourists walk through it, not from these parts, from hometowns with wide streets. I want to come back and dance through this alley. When I was headed back through the street, I took this photo. A traveller looking out with joy, statue of Jesus Christ behind her. I loved it! For some reason!! She loves it, too.

Not From These Parts / Charles Bridge / 3 June 2019

The Charles Bridge, lined with old statues and street vendors. Filled with tourists, no cobblestone road in sight, just people. The river on either side with views of the city. Each street vendor, a person, with their handmade craft on display, umbrella blocking the summer sun. Telling many people they cannot take photos. But in a moment, I uncovered part of her story. I saw her as more than a seller but as a person with stories to tell that happened since yesterday’s shopping day ended. Stories to tell her shop neighbor.

Two friends share a laugh on the bridge as tourists pass by, no one currently in need of a hair clip from Czech. Time to relax. They are part of a greater whole, striving to make a living off of the booming tourism in Prague. What they go home to, I will never know. Their need for each sale, I will not know either. But here she finds joy in it. In contrast to the typical stone exterior of the Czech, a vendor comes into the country and offers a smile.

Weekend Miser / Letna / 2 June 2019

As the Letna crowd dwindled down and the sun cast its evening glow on the city, a stroll down from the beer garden, five couples danced in a concrete clearing. Alongside the dancers was a teenage couple passionately embracing and a lone man looking out over the city as the sky changed colors. The scene was romantic.

I love these slices of magic in Prague. The human moments you’re prone to noticing when you have a camera around your neck but are really there whether you have the camera or not. As two people move with each other and around other dancing couples, to faint music.

It was a glorious Sunday evening at Letna as we watched a couple share a giant pizza at the table next to us. As I walked around the beer garden and noticed one man walk up to a table and offer them peaches. As my friends and I shared general camaraderie saying, “I love this place,” numerous times. The first time I took a picture of a table and they so clearly noticed and talked about me in French. I understood what they said and pretended I was taking pictures of something behind them. The Dennis technique.

I really can’t stop thinking about the peaches and the way that describes all circumstances that take place at this overlook. A couple entwined, a peach peace offering, teenagers groping each other, the way the sun makes the clock tower glow gold. Letna.

Weekend Miser / Bleší Trhy / 1 June 2019

“Being young in the city, belief and saying something”

At the largest flea market in the Czech Republic, down from the soaps, old
electronics and jewelry, people sold guns, swords and knives. A kid stumbled
across a mirror and practiced shooting with the fake gun he purchased, an
obvious step down in danger from the real guns being sold. However, it got me
thinking about violence, both in America and in Europe and what we settle for.

Prague, with its low violence rate, lets a visitor in, who purchases a fake
gun at a market, and in the process begins to normalize violence. While to some
this may not seem like a big deal, I ponder what we expose our children to and will continue to show them in the future. A problem I would not have noticed had a friend not told me about a documentary, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, about normalizing violence in movies but stigmatizing sex on screen. Americans don’t accept just anything, but call it innocence when the gun is fake.

I am unsure what was going through the minds of the Czech but to the
Americans walking by, this moment was cute and worth stopping to watch. To me,
I thought about how Americans accept violence into their lives and accept it as
near commonplace. Maybe as actions they would never do, but that they can
contently watch in a movie or accept as sold at a flea market.

There was a mass shooting in Virginia the day before I wrote this post.

 

Small Wonder / Roma Parade / 31 May 2019

The music makers – the life givers of the Roma Parade. As we took pictures, I found myself frequenting the back of the parade where the horn players and drummers resided, letting the music cover me. I couldn’t help but move along to the music as I walked alongside them, capturing their emotions and pride. I wanted to see what they see, feel what they feel. Without them, the dancers of all ages would have nothing to dance to.

A few steps up from the coordinated band, a group of three friends strolled through the parade, one playing guitar, two clapping along. Like me, they were fully covered by the happenings of the Roma Parade, but they shared this moment for themselves. A single guitar for two friends to clap to. The heartbeat of a different song, a song for a smaller audience.

It’s as if the guitarist is exactly where he belongs, the music maker, the life giver. Experiencing the joy and giving it to others in public spaces. Smiling in the prettiest places. Walking down the street, but deeply basking in the moment. He’s cracked the code in life – be the source, feed into other people and give them something worth clapping along with.

The heart beat of the parade, whether it’s to an audience of hundreds or smaller as the dancers split into groups and take over Old Town Square. Or an audience of two, perfectly content, rarely noticed.

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Around Here / Old Town Square / 30 May 2019

The sun came out today and alongside it, tourists flooded Old Town Square and a man and wife received good business. In a booth set up in the middle of the square, posed as artisans to sell crafts. Some tourists stop by, others purchase, others don’t even notice. But in one day, he sees countless people, only to never cross paths with them again. Some take home a souvenir from the exchange, forever remembering the Czech artisan.

I watched as he turned to his wife and delicately tied a white scarf around her neck. They took turns selling to tourists, one playing up the Czech stereotypes and selling their goods as authentic while the other sat in a chair soaking in the atmosphere. Looking out into the square, he sees through his crafts, vision blocked by the intricacies. As we see his face decorated in the metal, he sees us the same way. We are equals in appearance, aside from dress.

His business flourishes with the sun, making his actions similar to those of the sun catchers he sells. Soaking up the sun’s rays and casting them onto others. Then taking a seat and letting his wife do just the same. Catchers of sun and sellers of it, too.

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Noticed / Malostranská Metro stop / 29 May 2019

She’s walking right into it – letní, summer – with girls right by her side.

There’s a certain whimsy about grade school. Growing up in Dallas, I experienced this whimsy in the car with friends as one of our moms drove us home for the day. The typical naivety of an American kid, not really understanding how the world works, bursting only when a parent is late to pick them up and fear sets in. In Prague, the daily Metro commute made by kids, not just adults. Almost as if the city forces them to grow up. The naivety is different. Perhaps they have to cover their eyes to experience it.

The daily commute can go many ways, but I’d like to think this particular one was joyful, as they make their way off the Metro and into what’s to come. Time at home, dinner, more school the following days, and then summer. If these girls can conquer the commute, summer will be the forever joyride. I won’t find out when summer begins for these kids, but this picture captures those days or weeks leading up to it. The overall antsy in your seat, waiting for the days to make their way by, for the freedom of summer. Continued jubilance.