Inspiration with Rain by Chipka
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Description
As I might once have said, Czech history stretches back into the mists of prehistory, and Prague itself is known to have been settled as early as the Peleolithic age: “in caveman days” as my friend Štepán puts it in his eloquent and supremely direct-way. (I remember telling Štepán that there didn’t seem to be too many caves in very much of the Czech Republic. He answered, simply: “Oh, we built them.” Štepán has an answer for everything. Including an explanation for cavemen in a caveless region.)
Anyway, back to the history lesson: in the neighborhood of 200-ish BCE, Celts established a settlement just south of contemporary Prague proper; they stuck around for a minute. By the end of the first century, AD the Celts were replaced by someone else. Germanic people. I’m quite sure that Štepán might have something to say about the Celts not liking it very much, and the “Germaniks” liking it quite a lot. I love Štepán’s take on history.
I took the picture you see here on a particularly good day in Prague. As I’d mentioned earlier, Prague is actually two cities: Prague and Prague. Somehow, you always know which Prague one is referring to. There’s something in the way each name is pronounced, a silent thing that the ear doesn’t register, but the brain picks up. A subliminal identifier. Anyway, I was with my friend Svetlana; she’d discovered a museum in Prague, and so we had to cross a border to get to it. The borders between Prague and Prague are invisible and largely unstable: most of them shift in a moment’s whim, and I had no idea that there were even shift points in the area Svetlana guided me through; they weren’t there the week before.
We didn’t cross immediately; we stopped a few times for ice cream (or was it yogurt?) and those bracelet-shaped pastries flavored with ground almonds and a dusting of sugar. We passed the restaurant where Štepán worked, and got free beer and the chance to smoke cigarettes with him between tourists demanding coffee in tiny porcelain cups emblazoned with the red ILLY logo. We left after only one cigarette each.
It was sunny in Prague. When we crossed into Prague, it was cloudy. No, really the weather changed that quickly, lending credence to my theory of Prague being two cities...three if you count fictional Pekkur, but you can only get to Pekkur if you take The Number-8 Train—or book a nicely cheap flight on EasyJet. You can’t just walk across a shifty border making its way through half of a courtyard or one third of a building.
Needless to say, all of this has gone into the creation of Agara. The capital city of that country, Pekkur, found its direct origins on a little cobblestone street not too far from Vodičova Street, and even closer to a Czech-style beer hall (proof of that Germanic influence) called U Fleku. Like Prague, Pekkur boasts a long and colorful history involving migrating Vikings (rather than Celts) intermingling with wandering Slavs, with a few succubi and Kafkaesque bug-people thrown in, just to keep things interesting. Oh, and there’s that mysterious Agaran machine too...and from what I can gather, the machine has been there since “caveman days” though it may be a bit more Neolithic than Peleolithic. Ah, but why quibble over historical epochs? They’re such minor things in the grand scheme of existence.
At any rate, there are distinct connections between the Czech Republic and Agara, and I find it amusing that a record of such influences is embedded in pictures I’ve emailed to various people during my life in the Czech Republic. The camera responsible for this picture is dead. This is the very last picture that it took. I find that to be rather poetic, and as always, I hope you enjoy it and thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting. There will be more from Agara soon....
Comments (30)
lwperkins
What a gorgeous swan song for that camera! It looks almost tinted in sepia, it's so pretty, it could almost be any time period from the last 300 years, too! (If you hid the car, of course)
RodS
Beautiful photo, Chip! Wonderful, moody image - just love photos like this!
mgtcs
WOW...What a gorgeous photo Chip, an exceptional mood, very, very beautiful, thank you for sharing!
jocko500
this place have a lot of history for sure. This building is wonderful and the shot too.
three_grrr
Now here's the dilemma .. Would your narrative be as good without the photo? Would your photo be as good without the narrative? which is better, the narrative or the photo? Well, I've come to the conclusion that they are so closely bound and interwoven that one really can't properly live without the other, LOL! Your narrative adds life and color and reality to the photo, but the photo adds substance, color and reality .. oh wait .. it's pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Aahhh but what does it matter. It draws me in and makes me a part of it, a part of your time in Prague and a part even of it's history. The picture combined with the narrative makes it all more then just a history lesson .. I can see the "caves" that Štepán's early relatives built, deep beneath the city streets .. and I can see the strange Agaran machine and strange bug-people .. reality and fantasy .. all melded together in this ancient city. And who's to say that the fantasy wasn't reality? And somehow the camera must've known .. and threw all of itself taking this last photo in the very best and most beautiful possible.
bimm3d
gorgeous place and photo!!
CaressingTheDark
beautiful
Simpleworks
Just Brilliant.
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
wonderworld
Gorgeous moody photography!
whaleman
The mood and subtle colors of this shot are intense. Your camera died in its prime!
Crabbycabby
Fantastic looking building.
Digitaleagle
Beautiful city and capture thanks for the history lesson, very interesting read!
durleybeachbum
A lovely photo and interesting musings!
Ilona-Krijgsman
rain and mind can work perfect together.....on such days I get moody feelings.....perfect mood here......and nice history
prutzworks
xlt shot & story!
GARAGELAND
Your best so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!
flavia49
great shot
MrsRatbag
I agree, the photo and the narrative can only exist in symbiosis; wonderful work, Chip, and stay warm, the pictures that the newscasters are showing us of your snowstorm are really impressive!
beachzz
Rain would probably look good to you right now!! This foto looks as though the city is on a river. Not only that, it's full of rich details. I love the huge statue right next to the buildings. And of course, your story just makes it that much better!!
helanker
OH yes, I enjoyed both the beautiful capture, but also the narrative behind it. OH and stay warm, my friend.
SSoffia
wow!!!!!!!!! Magnificent capture & narrative !!!!!!!
sandra46
A NEW TERRIFIC IMAGE!
auntietk
What a stunning photograph! It reminds me of the days when I was first getting to know your work. Those dark (often middle-of-the-night) shots, rainy streets, interesting people (some in green socks), the greetings from Trent's sister ... some fun memories!
evielouise
Your information,the photo,and the water,rain etc makes me feel like traveling there :: lovely all of it:
praep
I where in Prague too for 3 days in 2008. A very interesting town.
jac204
How wonderful it must be to be able to walk in such historical surroundings. In the days of the Cold War it seemed that Communist nations were always shown in black and white. Now the Cold War is over and we see things in color, although I suspect it was in color all along. Thanks for sharing.
Bothellite
This is excellent, one of my favs is your recollections of CZ. Lucky in that I lived in Europe for a couple of years albeit a young guy, and young guys tend not to pay enough attention to what's important. But we fell and/or stepped into culture just because it couldn't be avoided all the time. I surely hope that you might get to go back before the old age visits to stay. It's important - and I have not.
nikolais
stunning town scape and an awesome read, Chip! Now I am even more confident of arranging a trip to Prague, let it even be one of them)
pat40
Great pic,