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Where to start when talking about Budapest? Well, Budapest is a really good place for a photographer to visit, as I hope my snaps demonstrate, and an even better place to go on holiday. It has all the things that a student could want: cheap drink and food (honestly try the wine, even if you don’t like wine, you’ll LOVE it), tonnes of cultural things to do; so much history, the Danube, trams, the oldest metro system in the world, vibrant youth culture and night life, and again – really good and cheap grub (Average £3-5 per head)
As a budding photographer, I thought Budapest was a brilliant location to shoot. The architecture makes the place feel really ‘ex-soviet’; everything is regimented and ordered.
A bonus to this is that navigation is really easy! Also, they have built a lot of open squares which is brilliant for the night life and youth/ student culture. The photo above is a ‘lock tree’; basically, when young couples are in love they put a lock on the gate, and chuck the key in the Danube to symbolise their love. It’s a bit of a gimmick I’m sure, but it’s a cool cultural phenomenon.
Let me put the communist architecture into perspective. Throughout WWII, Budapest bounced between Fascist and Communist parties (in that order), subsequently Budapest was bombed heavily. Thankfully (and the point to my story), some of the great architecture survived, including St Stephen’s Basilica. [[image:4|left|St Stephen's Basilica ]]
Unfortunately the great bridges over the Danube didn’t survive the Nazis, but were rebuilt and are pretty impressive today.
Budapest is a pleasure to shoot at night, especially on the banks of the Danube. One thing which strikes you when you’re there is the scale – the place is huge, so bring comforatble shoes.
One of the most aesthetically pleasing buildings at night time has to be the Parliament Building. There is much to be said about the Parliament Building, but that’s a whole article in itself.
When you visit Budapest (I say when because you ought to) you’ll more than likely climb up to Buda Castle. Make sure you do, and make sure you bring your camera; my only regret is that I didn’t go up there at night time with a tripod to get some great long-exposure shots. The views of the city are quite literally breath-taking.
Not only is the Parliament building beautiful by night, but by day too.
Like all holidays there were many places I wanted to go and photograph, but didn’t get a chance to, including the Baths, and the panorama from the highest hill in Buda,and the Roman Ruins of Aquicum. Apparently they are beautiful places, so I’ll make sure I snap them next time I’m there over Easter.
In short, Budapest is a beautiful place to visit. There is so much to see and do there. I wanted throughout this article to write a photographer’s account of a visit there. There are millions of travel reviewers out there who will give you their pros and cons of their experience. All I’ll say is: Go, take a camera, have fun. Eat, drink, immerse yourself in the culture and have a great time.
Happy Travels!
All pictures taken by Philip Brown on a Canon EOD 550D with 18-135mm and 50mm lenses and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phil-Brown-Photography/147407362008185
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