Saint Petersburg : April
russian version
April 2012 was a rare successful time.
I haven't shot with such intensity before. I got a lot of photos, and enjoyment not less.
So sit down cosy - I will try to convey my emotions to the fullest. You will find a photo-walk in Saint Petersburg in length per month. You will see one of the most beautiful cities in the world from different viewpoints and hopefully will re-discover it again, even if you live in it. I'll take you where I wandered in, while you probably were still sleeping or already had a rest from the cares of the past day.
Wonderful season starts, when the swirling flow of the main river of the city turns into a mirror. In April things change dramatically, the whole architectural ensemble near the Neva is reflected in suddenly calmed down water and creates incredible graphics. Everything is transforming. I liked it. Incredibly. And I was determined to make pictures non-stop through April.
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Sleepless nights. Forever sleepy, slow: sunset at 10 pm, sunrise at 6 am. Plus time for prepare and for the road, not mention the fact that there are a simple human desires, and wishes to see what was shot, to analyze. I was afraid to oversleep, so often I didn't at all. To sleep I wish like every minute. Sometimes was able to curl up on my work, but not always. But whatever it was, I almost every early morning was out of the house and went to the Neva, from time to time my loneliness was brightened with positive company in the face of Sergey Louks.
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Before this I never would have thought that such conventional views and perspectives can rejoice, though I have seen them hundreds of times in books, on postcards and souvenirs. Even when I lived in Vladivostok, I knew how the Spit of Vasilievsky Island looks, what view to The Peter and Paul Fortress from the Winter Canal and so on. But there is a pleasant feeling - now you captured this yourself, and now these pictures are yours, even such simple and familiar.
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Before dawn there is a special state of the city. Everyone is asleep, and you go alone, breathing in the freshness of the morning. Extraordinary silence, unreal. For the "second capital of Russia", such a metropolis, it is very surprising. Even the just morning walking gives an unforgettable pleasure. Often I put away the camera and enjoyed such rare moments for everyday.
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With the morning twilight you becoming a witness of how the city wakes up and a new day growing: the sounds of cars and people - cluttered. The uniqueness of the moment is fading in sight. It is interesting to observe these changes, being "in the center of events" as they say.
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Generally, to see the city in its pure form - better to do while no fuss. While a lot of people aren't on the streets, not honking cars - you can be not distracted, not to look down in the crowd, fearing to shoulder someone, not to maneuver in the flow of absolute movement, but quietly look at the city. Without noise pollution...
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And a very different picture is at sunset. Sitting somewhere above the avenue and seeing how gradually the city covers by night, and everybody hurry to home. And if in the morning I tried to capture the silent condition of Saint Petersburg, the time stood still, at sunset I shot the movement, flow - all that шт morning was perceived as unnecessary and some inharmonious towards the age-old symbols of the city. Although, how to look.
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After moving to Saint Petersburg in 2005, I started to love him much later, when looked narrowly, wandered in it, tasting and exploring. I could not understand why a lot of people so admire him, seeks to come here at least once in life. And I live here...
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But finally and irrevocably I fell in love with this city when became to capture it, in 2012. This was particularly favoured by new photo-friends. We with our photogang, as IlyaSt calls it, many and actively were walking around town, snapping shutters, especially with Serg_degtyarev, with who we spent then the entire season on the roofs.
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P.S.
It turned out that not every year in April in Saint Petersburg could be so lucky. For example, in 2013 was already a completely different picture. This is especially warms the soul - who knows how things will turn out - but I fortunately have now my own memories of this interesting period...
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read also:
" Saint Petersburg : beginning of the season"
" Saint Petersburg : summer from roofs"
