This is a post to go with #WednesdayWalk challenge by
My walk this Wednesday turned out to be about street art and coffee... The first photo I took on this day was this classic old-style cast iron gates, converted into something more, er... contemporary, lol. How do you like the result?.. Subjectless painting is far from being as simple as you might think!
But let me start from the start. St.Petersburg's courtyards exploration is a cool time-spending. They are all different, like surprise boxes - you never know what is housed inside of the next one. Of course, you expect to see parked cars, bicycles, scanty flower pots... cats... and you see them - but sometimes more interesting encounters happen.
A few days ago I did some internet investigations and prepared #to-do list: 20 addresses worth checking - mostly for courtyards, and a few historic buildings. This Wednesday I decided to start with address located just two streets next from my office. Internet trip-advisors count it as 'Hayao Miyazaki themed courtyard'. Being a fan, of course I could not skip it.
Tadaaaaaam! Entering the yard - I FOUND NOTHING! except of this robot, lying ruined on the ground. (While internet guides promised me some cool paintings on walls and art objects). I felt immediate disappointment and blamed myself for delaying it for so long... because I know well that street art is a very ephemeral thing: today it exists, but tomorrow it’s gone, it’s erased by municipal workers - or, at best, hidden under new ones other artists' work (although I'm not convinced that this is the best scenario).
Also, I found this leftovers. It was an obvious sign I came too late...
One way or another, the robot is beautiful and I was glad that I came to photograph it on time - when the first May grass was just beginning to grow. I walked around the entire yard twice (twice), didn’t find anything else and headed further wherever my eyes were looking. But then some hidden mental process in my head ended, and I returned to the entrance to the courtyard to find out more. In fact, I thought about what I would write on my blog for you, my dear followers. "Was there, didn't find anything. End of story." - this is somehow uninformative compared to: “I visited this place. Once there were beautiful ......... but then ... they were destroyed by municipal authorities / moved / it destroyed itself, and now here there is nothing". Do you agree that this is much more informative?
Less than three minutes later, I was very happy with my intuition and decision to came. The first passer-by turned out to be a local resident (I stopped a grandmother and her daughter on a scooter; we’ll do without the photo, it’s not important for my story). And in answer to my question: WHERE IS YOUR MIYAZAKI YARD, or rather, WHERE HAS HE GONE? - she replied: “Oh, you just came early, after the winter all the exhibits have not yet returned to their places, come in early June.” It turned out that nothing was missing - simply, for safety from winter weather, the art was being moved to a warehouse! (Although I don’t really understand where the images painted on the walls went... are they painted anew every year? Well, that’s also a possible option). And so, encouraged by the prospect, I went for a walk further.
Oh, and one more funny thing: this “Miyazaki courtyard” turned out to be located very close, just across the road from a spot I have already visited many times to admire these large graffiti! Wonderful art was hidden in a neighboring yard, where I did not go and therefore was not in the know.... Typical situation, hehe.
Note the 'Fuck War' inscriptions, that appeared over the graffiti wall. Last time I shot it there were none. What I can say... Russian citizens are deprived of free speech (guess what will happen with those, who would walk across the street with transparants claiming to Stop War?..). All they can do is just this :/ leaving little signs of protest, whispering in each other's ears in private.
Tiny piece of art on a wall of dull residential building.
When your everyday environment is like this...
...some folks cant stand it without trying to paint it over with brighter colours.
Little flower beds here and there, are prepared for the plants, on the tiny sidewalks of the roads, at the every available spot of free space in the yards (this is not too much of an option - these yards are also called 'wells' for a reason).
Here I found myself near a vast wasteland; the last time I walked here was last summer or the summer before last. It's an interesting place and I was curious to see what had changed here. In fact, almost all the objects that surprised me last time had disappeared; the place looked like after a big cleaning of the apartment, when all the furnishings were thrown into the trash - and nothing new appeared in its place.
A dilapidated brick wall-partition (enclosing the passage to the courtyard) has been preserved, forming the expression of the “face”.
Some kind of conceptual street art from posters. I don’t know who is depicted here, so it’s not clear what this art is hinting at... some kind of powerful action between a man and a woman. Judging by the color of the posters, which are very faded and faded (paint that has not faded - magenta - is the most resistant to sunlight), these posters have been hanging here for more than a year.
And this graffiti appeared, which (I suspect) will not last long - municipal workers will quickly paint it over as soon as one of the local residents complains.
I will reconstruct this picture this way. Someone painted the Sun on a huge empty wall. The wall is already yellow - a few quick movements from the spray can were enough to complete the drawing. And looking at the result, some other person felt that his hands were itching, and became a co-author: he drew with blue paint the outline of a man who kicks the sun like a soccer ball. Moreover, its graphics are minimalistic and confident. This is a very simple, but such a cool drawing! I won’t talk about its secret symbolism; I don’t have the understanding or the right words to articulate why I like this drawing. I can’t draw :/ but of course I would really like to have graphic line skills at the same level as the (second) author.
With this my walk came to an end, I found myself at the entrance to the metro - but instead of heading home, I headed to the Coffee House next door. This is a fashionable area of the city and of course there are many cafes here, but one of them is worthy of being included on the Coffee Map of the city. This is 'BOLSHE COFFEE ROASTERS' ('More coffee roasters'), located at Alexandrovsky Park, 3G (a minute's walk from Gorkovskaya metro station).
Their site: https://bolshecoffee.ru/about
Please note in the frame my heavy photo backpack (this time I borrowed with me three lenses: 50mm, 16-35mm and 150mm). After my long walk filled with visual impressions, I rewarded myself with a cup of espresso in this cozy place... got a “second wind” and took two dozen more photos :))))
I'll save the story about this place for 'Cinnamon Cup Coffee' community, but let me share a few cityscapes I've captured here, the final point of my #Wednesday-walk.
Why this gigantic duck figure (and a lot of smaller ducks, all shapes and colours, all around)?.. cause this is cafe's logo! very unusual, refreshing, joyful... and fruitful. 
Cafe is located inside the grotto, which is a design element of the location itself (funny fact: Alexandrovsky park during the tsarist epoch, before the revolution, was the property of "Sobriety Society"). So, cafe got a perfect use of the spot - you can have your coffee inside, in the cozy dark atmosphere of coffee-house...
...or grab the drink and head outside, landing at the little coffee-yard, or make a few steps further and take a good observation point at the top of this grotto. I wish I lived somewhere around, then I'd visit this place on a regular basis. Pretty sadly - I live in pretty opposite part of the city, and find myself here just a few times a year.
| location: | St.Petersburg, Russia | May 2024 | natural light |
| camera/lens: | Canon 5D | Sigma 50mm | raw-conv |
