Maesland

The abundance of beauty in the old-town of Prague,
the patina of the Golden Hour
Crevices and lighting casting complex shadows over buildings
with looming roof top statues watching you like giant sentinels,
lighted fountains glowing like neon almost
Tourist herds making theit selfies with the many sights in the background
in between the Insanely chaotic shops,
all selling the same russian dolls, weed-filled candy, and stuffies.

Click on the photos to enlarge and cycle through them!

Prague, Oct 17 2023

If it’s made it to the Unesco bucket list,
for sure it is worth the journey
should you happen to be in the vicinity.

Funny how as photographer,
we choose the lens to which to see,
in my case
always 28mm, black and white
but that’s not what I meant.

Lifting out the crowd or instead
dissolving them behind objects,
focusing on how it felt,
to be there
and experience
the space and light
and passersby unwittingly
posing for my camera.

Speicherstadt/Hamburg 8 oct 2023

Frankly I don´t know what I was expecting of Hamburg
yet, somehow it reconciles with what I encountered.
This ´Hansestadt´ with rich past in commerce
shows a more diverse cultural blend than I´m used to.

It has two faces, really.

One is the hurried and metropolitan grandeur,
with waterways, buildings and impressively large store fronts.
Where people are either stuck queing up for escalators
or rushing to complete their purchases on Saturday.
Just like the taxis are either stuck in traffic
or driving at nauseating speed because they can finally make quick drops.

The other is the face of extravagant buildings of the roaring twenties,
with metal beam structures and high ceilings. Above all offering an inmensely warm and relaxing feeling of coming home to an almost overwhelmingly detailed yet organised space offering many many many books, cookware, teddy bears and wines tucked away deeper in the structures or the top floors,
Deliberaty slowing the pace, to make way for conversation, drinks and bites.

Hamburg, Germany, 7 Oct 2023

ps: Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to tag the photos with locations or stores.

I’ve met the occasional urbanite
who favoured the scale of Istanbul
over the villagesque charm of Maastricht
I love to linger in the medieval streets
and secretly snap unsuspecting people
revealing their cravings
as astute enterpreneurs
reel them into their shops & restaurants

Meanwhile, at home
we equally cater to the needs
of the little people
walking by our window panes
they hunch
they gaze
ignoring the tugs
from their parents
pointing out what they admire
to the more patient grand-parents