'(...) What is the Heart of the City? The place where the most important decisions are made? The place where the largest streets cross? Geographical center? The largest interchange node, which during the rush hour pours a sea of people? The city center is a very arbitrary issue, there may be even a few of them, but there is only one heart. During my flights I saw them very clearly. (...)'
The quote above comes from the WARSAW ON AIR photobook - a series of aerial photographs taken by me mainly from helicopter deck during my flights over Warsaw. In the book I compared the city - particularly Warsaw - to a living organism. It gave me a completely new perspective on a places I know so well. In a book I distingushed its Fabrics, Veins, a Nervous System and... a heart.
One day accidentally I found In the Internet a historical photograph of Warsaw destroyed during World War II, taken by the Nazis from the air, after the Warsaw Uprising. It hit me, that some time ago, over 70 years after this photo was taken, I shot the one with a very similiar framing! The picture above is a combination of these 2 photographs... It's so moving!
Warsaw is a city with tragic history. It was attacked by Germans in September 1939, and after 28 days capitulated. In 1944 a 63 days long Warsaw Uprising took place, during which over 200.000 civilians were killed. After capitulation of the Uprising, Nazis threw everybody who survived away from the city, and began burning it, building by building. During the whole World War II, over 80% of the city on the left side of the Wisła river, was destroyed.
After the War the Old Town was rebuilt nearly 1:1 (by... Soviets), basing on the photographs, plans etc. In '70s they also rebulit the Old Town Castle, and the whole area was added to a World Unesco Heritage List.
I still can;t believe I made such a similiar picture by accident... I think people should see such photographs to see the cruelty of war, it's nonsense, and destruction it brings.
Thank you for reading this post and I hope you learned something new from it :)
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