Early morning in Prague

I will tell you who is up early in Prague: drunks (who never went to bed), homeless people, and serious photographers. I fell into the last category as I went out at 5:30 this morning to take some specific photographs without the hordes. Across the Charles Bridge drunken young people swayed and sang in small disheveled groups. A young man crawled across the old town square until some police officers came to see if he was okay. Another young man flew in little airplane circles making airplane noises while his friends hooted. The homeless people ignored them and shuffled through the streets with their plastic bags of possessions, chatting amiably. I and my photographer colleagues politely and earnestly clicked away at the nice clear places, although in some of the movies I took, it was impossible to avoid the drunks as they randomly reeled into the frame. When you watch my slick production video, see if you can spot the two drunks who made it into the final cut.



Early morning sorts things out. When there are fewer people out, what one is doing is made more visible. When Debbie and I walked home at midnight from our visit with her friend at a cafe, the crowds were still out, and it felt safer and more anonymous. This morning, I felt more exposed and certainly more on guard. I like the early morning because it seems to expose a city and make it clearer, although I was not prepared for early morning to seem less safe. I suppose it felt less safe because I have never been in a place where there so many early morning drunks. Their behavior was random, which made them more difficult to deal with.

An assignment that I will give to the students is to do a photo essay of the beautiful, the ugly, and the authentic sides of Prague. This entire assignment can be done quite quickly at 6:00 am as it is all concentrated at this time.


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