Fotoeins Fotografie

My Prague: autumn colours in the Czech capital

I’m happy to be inside the Czech capital of Prague whenever the opportunity arises. With great timing of an early-October visit and a very positive weather forecast, I’m awake well before scheduled sunrise, and I stumble out to Karlův most (Charles Bridge) to catch the light of sunrise on the city. Seeing and photographing the warm sunrise glow on the old parts of the city makes the early wakeup call worthwhile. Prague is effectively an “open-air museum”; the warm colours at sunrise combined with the changing colours of the surrounding deciduous canopy magnify the visual intensity.

And no, I don’t think there’s enough orange or red to cover this UNESCO World Heritage Site …

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RheinZeit, Cologne, Koeln, Germany, fotoeins.com

Germany: great eats, sweet and savory

Above/featured: Foreground: Vienna-style pork schnitzel with fries, lemon slices, capers, sardines. Background: Flammkuche with feta, green chiles, olives, onion. RheinZeit, Köln (2011).

I started this series of food pictures in 2011, and the collection of photos has grown to something more. I think food throughout Germany can be colourful and delicious, and can offer interesting variety outside of the traditional “meat and starch”.

The photos you are about to see may cause drooling.

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Stelenfeld, field of stelae, Holocaustdenkmal, Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, Germany, fotoeins.com

My Berlin: in the field of stelae

Above/featured: Reflection – 19 Mar 2011 (450D).

In Berlin’s Mitte district between Brandenburg Gate and Postdamer Platz is a field of standing blocks (Stelefeld).

The slabs of concrete are uniform in colour, composition, length, and width. However, the blocks stand at different heights, the curved ground below undulates, and when the slabs loom suddenly overhead, the spaces in between can be eerie, adding to feelings of confusion and disconnection.

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My Berlin: autumn colours in the German capital

Above/featured: A swath of “Mitte” colour in the fog – 16 Nov 2012 (450D).

Berlin doesn’t have the easy natural landmarks of mountains or open waters immediately adjacent to the city. But there’s plenty more urbanity in Berlin which includes countless green spaces inhabited by deciduous trees whose leaves reveal their colours as temperatures drop with the change in season. The colour change by day gives way to night-time illuminations of colour and pattern onto buildings and landmarks during October’s annual Festival of Lights. I found myself absorbing and remembering the colours to tie me through the subsequent cold dark grey doldrums.

I made all photos on multiple visits to the German capital between 2006 and 2021 with the following devices: Canon PowerShot A510 (A510), Canon EOS450D/Rebel XSi (450D), Canon EOS6D mark1 (6D1), and Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime (X70). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-LK.

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My Stockholm: finding Greta Garbo in Skogskyrkogården

The Skogskyrkogården, or Woodland Cemetery, is located about 15 minutes by metro, south from central Stockholm in Sweden. For its unique design, aesthetic character, and expanse both vertically and horizontally, the forest cemetery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

I had read that Greta Garbo was buried here, and I wanted to find out for myself.

North entrance.

Resurrection Statue, by John Lundqvist (1930), in Monument Hall.

Skogskappellet, Woodland Chapel, Skogskyrkogarden, Woodland Cemetery, Stockholm, Sweden, fotoeins.com

Skogskappellet (Woodland Chapel), with golden copper “angel of death”.

Skogskyrkogarden (Woodland Cemetery).

Lead up to Greta Garbo’s grave.

Modest marker for Garbo’s final resting place.

Born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in Stockholm in 1905, Greta Garbo was discovered at the age of 17. She was honoured with four Academy Award nominations for her work which transitioned successfully from silent-films to “talkies” in what is now considered the “Golden Age” of filmmaking. Even now, she is considered one of the most beautiful women and one of the most important actresses ever to appear on the big screen. After only 27 films between 1924 and 1941, she retired to private life, away from celebrity spotlight. After her death in 1990 and subsequent legal issues, her cremated remains were buried in 1999 at Skogskyrkogården in the city where she was born.

In the 1955 biography “Garbo” by John Bainbridge, Garbo is quoted as saying:

I never said, ‘I want to be alone.’ I only said, ‘I want to be left alone.’ There is all the difference.

To reach the forest cemetery from Stockholm’s city centre, take the Tunnelbana green metro line 18 southbound in the direction “Farsta strand” to the stop called “Skogskyrkogården”. There is no charge or fee to enter Skogskyrkogården. Garbo’s grave is located south of the Skogskappellet (Woodland Chapel).

More from Stockholm

• The colours of Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town
• Say “Hej!” (and to food) at Lisa Elmqvist in Östermalm’s Saluhall market hall
• Daytrip to Vaxholm in Stockholm’s archipelago

The publicity photo above of Greta Garbo is by Clarence Sinclair Bull for MGM in 1939 (Wiki). I made the remaining photos above on 25 June 2008. This post is published on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-vP.