Photo Journal
Long Silences In Prague
In the fall of 2019, I spent six weeks in Prague.
There’s something about Prague that sets it apart from other cities. Its spellbinding architecture, charming cobblestone roads, interesting people, history, and culture all create this incredible sense of awe that a place like this exists and continues to hold onto what makes it so beautiful.
Because of this, Prague is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the crowds and tourism. However, that wasn’t my experience.
Whenever I travel, I allow myself to live and experience everyday life without feeling any sense of urgency to see particular tourist sites. I approach visiting a city as if I live there, and luckily for me, Prague felt like home from day one.
Over the course of my time in Prague, I created a body of work that captures what I value in visiting new places: the everyday, beautifully mundane scenes.
I am always reminded of a Franz Wright poem, in which he says “The long silences need to be loved, perhaps more than the words which arrive to describe them in time.” I often reflect on this when considering composition. I seek to capture times of quiet joy, without hurry or hustle. I want to stare at a photograph and feel the long silence that it implies. Slow, simple, intimate, and calm. With this photo series, I sought to capture the calm moments in an otherwise busy city.
By Scott Clarke
Scott Clarke is a photographer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His work centralizes around portraiture and landscape focusing on themes of human relationships and the soft moments of everyday life.
He can be reached on Instagram at @scottscottscottscottscott.
