Alright, here they are finally, my Tallinn photos. It's a round that starts and ends at the megalomaniacal Soviet cultural palace. This is because the catamaran harbour is located behind the cultural palace.
The photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.wisty/TallinnEstonia#
A slideshow, if you prefer: click here.
The photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/mr.wisty/TallinnEstonia#
A slideshow, if you prefer: click here.
7 comments:
Hi Maria,
I love that you took some photos in colour and others in black and white. My burning question, looking at the monstrosity, is what exactly is a cultural apalce? It is some kind of parade grounds? It reminded me in feeling and scale to the Nuremberg rally site- cold and barren.
xx
AM
Oops. I meant palace.
Oh, they were just places for all sorts of cultural activities, concerts, performances, what have you. They built them in similarly megalomaniacal scale all around the socialist countries. I guess they thought it reveals the mighty achievements of the socialist systems but to me these places just look ridiculous, so out of all proportion they are.
You certainly capture the the cold dominance of the cultural palace Maria, and also the sorry decrepitude of all that represented the old socialist system. Good atmospherics created by the angles you've chosen.
I am fascinated by all the wooden buildings there though. Much the same as you have in Finland, yes?
ou had a lovely day for your trip didn't you. I can imagine these places look pretty bleak and hopeless on cold grey days.
I never cease to wonder about the purpose of the Soviet architecture, the socialist realism of this type. Cold dominance is a good description indeed. It looks all the more ridiculous when you think about the fact that Tallinn really isn't a large city. Much smaller than Helsinki.
The usage of wood is pretty much the same as in Finland. I guess because there's a lot of the material available and it's cheaper than building of stone. There was a strong German influence in Estonia earlier in history and you might expect more stone from that, but the more recent history perhaps has a stronger effect.
I indeed had a lovely day - though could've spent more time. But the equally lovely thing is that I can easily go there again soon because it's cheap and because the catamaran traffic runs long into autumn. The next time I may visit the Patarei prison as well, since it's open to the public for a measly 2 euro entrance. Although that may turn out to be a real place of horror...
Well if you do go again, Maria, I shall look forward to reading your accounts as well as looking at your superb photos! As a historian, these former socialist bastions must be endlessly interesting, even though the stories behind them are probably dark and horrifying in human terms.
I enjoyed your photos, especially the water ones. I love black & white, it just gives it a whole different feel to picture.
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