The Citadella, or the aesthetic of black and white
The newly rebuilt Citadella complex, sitting above Budapest, served us some interesting light patterns that I felt should be captured in black and white.
There is a kind of photography that I would call ambient: you take photos that are not meant to be in the front of attention. They will be used as background or decoration, but they will never be the subject of the design or the discussion. And that is exactly the intention of taking them.
Except when you decide to talk about them specifically. That they serve as background does not mean they are not interesting. See, when you go out hunting for images like this, you look for interesting interplays between surfaces and light.
And that takes us to the Citadella, or Citadel (if you read an English guidebook). Originally, the Citadella was an ominous fortress overlooking the city. It was built in 1854 by the Habsburgs, shortly after the Hungarian freedom fight was defeated (in 1849). After that, it served military purposes most of the time, but eventually it became a monument, a tourist sight. During the Soviet times, a Statue of Liberty was erected in the vicinity, practically on top of, the complex. The Citadella has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 1987.
Although the fortress is an interesting place to visit in itself, most people make the journey up to see one of the best views, if not the best view, at the city of Budapest.
During the recent renovation, the builders decided to make the site better walkable, more tourist-friendly. As a result, the monolith of the fortress was split in two, with an opening in the middle. On one side, there is a sectioned wall, and on the other side of the opening, there is a glass structure, letting sunlight through with interesting shadows.
This set of photos captures the conversation between the surface of the south wall and the "structured" light coming from the north-west. It does not make a big difference if I take a color or a black-and-white photo, and the black-and-white seemed a "purer" choice at the time.
The photos were taken on a Canon EOS RP.
