[Leica] Photography and Prague

["Bruce Feldman" <brucef@ti.cz>]

Gareth,
Many thanks for the "postcard" and the tips.  I'll certainly look forward to
the photos on your website.  I've seen the Hotel Europa, but now, with your
recommendation, I'll give it a try for a meal.  So far, the food here has
been good but bland.  After 1 1/2 years in Bangkok before my Warsaw sojourn,
I'm going to have to find room in my Domke for a jar of some hot stuff.
I'll also head out to the Charles Bridge.  I liked, too, your perspective on
the architecture of Prague -- you're right about the seamless blending
between old and new.

Photographically, the main challenge in Prague seems like it will be trying
to avoid the visual cliches -- cobblestone streets, gabled houses, oldtime
streetlights and the like.  That's all been done before so many times by
much better photographers than me.  I'd poured through Sudek and Saudek's
work in years past and have been browsing through the work of other past and
present photographers in and of Prague, including a very good b&w Leica M
photographer who has a new book, whose name I can't find at the moment.

Interestingly, the bookstores are all featuring the glossy tourist photo
books of Tim Porter, my old photographic mentor (and a real jerk, if a
skilled one, I can't help saying) in four versions(!).  They're in my face
everywhere.  He must be selling piles of these things.  Anyway, I haven't
found my angle here yet, but I'm working on it.

Regards,
Bruce Feldman
Prague


- ----- Original Message -----
From: Gareth Jolly <garethjolly@bigpond.com>

>Short answer is, I don't really know Prague that well.
>
>But there are  a few camera stores in the streets around the old Town
>Square - one in the maze of streets leading to the Charles bridge and
>another few in one the streets leading back the other way (perhaps
Celetna?)
>
>Don't know about real Leica stuff, but plenty of Russian Leica forgeries,
>Zenits, Horizons etc which I'd imagine you'd have seen a fair bit of.
>
>Also a bad part of town to buy anything, given that its at the tourist
>heart.
>
>If you don't know Prague all that well and want to do some sightseeing, I
>strongly recommend Cadogan's guide to Prague.  By far the best guide I came
>across and written with a great sense of humour and descriptive ability.
>And you must try and do a guided tour through the Municipal House - it has
>stunning, recently renovated art nouveau interiors.  If you like that sort
>of stuff, try and also see (or have dinner at) the Hotel Europa.  A
>beautiful turn of the century hotel, now slightly threadbare and definitely
>having seen better days.  Not in the best part of town, either.  But still
a
>beautiful building.
>
>I'm just about to relaunch my website - there'll be a few photos of Prague
>on it.