Prague Golem

Fabled creature of clay made by Rabbi Loew to look after the citizens of Prague in times of

civic stress, the Golem clearly doesn't like cameras. On the previous two occasions I'd

photographed his likeness, the first time the camera jammed when it had never done so

before, and on the second occasion, oddly, only half the frame was exposed, leaving a ghostly

streak down the middle. And no Golem. This time I thought I'd fool him by pretending to

shoot this wall, with the grisly blighter only visible in the bottom corner. This I got away with,

but for how long...? The picture is of Golden Lane, the so-called 'Street of the Alchemists' in

Hradcany Castle, Prague, which was home to jewellers, divines, alchemists, necromancers,

what have you, during the reign of mad King Rudolf II in the 17th century. But Golden Lane

has lost its charm - it's now full of trinket shops for tourists. For history buffs, it's more fun to

visit the room in the Castle where the 'Defenestration of Prague' took place, starting the Thirty

Years' War that destroyed half of Europe. What's not generally realised is that all four

regents and nobles who were hurled out of the window when a religious dispute got a tad

heated, miraculously survived the fall.

Postscript: the Golem has had the last laugh - I've lost the original master shot of this picture.

But I can remember that I degraded the chroma (colour) in Paint Shop Pro and used the

'Grunge' filters in Perfect Photo Suite 7 to spooky-up the picture.

Fabled creature of clay made by Rabbi Loew to look after the citizens of Prague in times of civic

stress, the Golem clearly doesn't like cameras. On the previous two occasions I'd photographed his

likeness, the first time the camera jammed when it had never done so before, and on the second

occasion, oddly, only half the frame was exposed, leaving a ghostly streak down the middle. And no

Golem. This time I thought I'd fool him by pretending to shoot this wall, with the grisly blighter only

visible in the bottom corner. This I got away with, but for how long...? The picture is of Golden

Lane, the so-called 'Street of the Alchemists' in Hradcany Castle, Prague, which was home to

jewellers, divines, alchemists, necromancers, what have you, during the reign of mad King Rudolf II

in the 17th century. But Golden Lane has lost its charm - it's now full of trinket shops for tourists.

For history buffs, it's more fun to visit the room in the Castle where the 'Defenestration of Prague'

took place, starting the Thirty Years' War that destroyed half of Europe. What's not generally

realised is that all four regents and nobles who were hurled out of the window when a religious

dispute got a tad heated, miraculously survived the fall.

Postscript: the Golem has had the last laugh - I've lost the original master shot of this picture. But I

can remember that I degraded the chroma (colour) in Paint Shop Pro and used the 'Grunge' filters

in Perfect Photo Suite 7 to spooky-up the picture.

He's watching you...