Prague - the Last Forty Years

Prague is a city of history. Ancient history, at least ancient European history. Everywhere you might go in Prague you walk from one chapter of history into another one. The past has formed Prague and Prague is proud of that past and displays it with honor. Mostly.

Prague was behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years - its 40 years in the wilderness. The communists did not tear down any of the great old structures and replace them with concrete cinderblocks. That is one thing for which the world must be thankful.

The past 40 years shows in various places. Prague is working to change all of that it can.

But some scars go deeper than into wood and concrete. Some are taken and woven into the country's new attitude, and become part of its recovery. I like this photo because it seems to show the past and the future sitting together. The old and the new. Both women seem somewhat pragmatic and they look into different directions, and they already live in different worlds..

And I really do like this picture because it seems to me to show more than just the face of a woman. I can see in this face the entire history of Europe. Here is one who has borne not only children but also disaster, catastrophe and joy. Here is the face an infant might turn toward, and a face whose gaze a tyrant could not endure. Naked godesses adorn many of the columns and panels of Europe representing that which was considered good in the land, but this face belongs to the one who has given birth to Europe and nursed it and washed it and taught it and healed it and buried it and weeped for it and taken care of its progeny to begin it all again.


© John Womack, 2006. All rights reserved.
Photos made with Canon Elura 70 on SD card.