The Czech capital city at the threshold of the night, when the last trams take the late passengers to their homes... Through the contrast between lights and shadows, Atanas Milanov shows us a different Prague. His photos are arranged in the hall of the Czech Center in Sofia. The exhibition with the title "Evening Tram 22 Journey - Prague" officially opens today, January 16, and can be seen until mid-February.

Atanas Milanov has chosen to link the image of Prague to this tram line, as its route passes through some of the most characteristic landmarks in the city. "The tram runs very close to the Palace complex, located on the highest hill in the city and goes up some very scenic serpentines. It climbs the hill, then descends and crosses the river very close to the Charles Bridge, revealing an impressive view over the Vltava River," the photographer has told Radio Bulgaria.

Using the technique of extended exposure, which turned the trams into winding colored lines, the author recreates the emotion of movement in contrast to the darkness and frozen silhouettes of the night city.

Atanas Milanov is from Sofia. He is 31 years old and works professionally in the field of graphic design. Through this exhibition he wants to show the inspiration that Prague brings him as the city where he currently works and lives in. The Czech capital has been home for the Bulgarian for five years now - he went there because of the opportunity to work and gradually discovered the opportunities for personal and professional development:

"I started dealing with photography quite late and basically I have a strong affinity for nature, so this was the first thing I started photographing - it gives me inspiration. However, the urban environment in Prague has become a wonderful inspiration for me to develop my photographic sense. I started shooting the urban environment and this set of photographs is the result. I also look closely at the movement of trams, but the ones in Sofia are among my favorites. I even like those little yellow trams in Bulgaria more than the trams in Prague.

I am from Sofia and since I was a child I have kept memories of the trams on the streets of the city. Traveling through the city, they remind me of childhood, so I enjoy hearing them, seeing them on the streets. Naturally, by going to Prague, I saw the other trams there; they are red in color. The contrast with the Gothic cathedrals in Prague is very nice, in general this is also the combination of colors - black and red, which is also visible in the exhibition. These are the colors of Prague, while Sofia has other colors – it is the yellow of the trams and the color of the blue sky and the mountain in its background. Therefore, I would say that Sofia has much warmer and natural colors."

The exhibition is titled “Evening Tram 22 Journey - Prague” because it looks like a photo story, while for the viewer who moves from frame to frame, it looks like a real journey. All the footage was actually filmed along the tram route, which has 22 stops, Atanas Milanov says. Through additional photos, he also showed the slightly more experimental part of his work along the route. "Even the ones that aren't very good are interesting because of the attempt of visualizing fragments of this journey," the photographer says and continues:

The exhibition is like turning something ordinary from our everyday life into something extraordinary and fabulous. For example, in Prague I bought a tram ticket and from the first stop to the last one I imagined that I was on the best journey ever. Certainly, here in Sofia, people can also have a similar trip with just a tram ticket. It is important that they give freedom to their thoughts, to their imagination that they are experiencing something different and interesting. We must enjoy our everyday life, what surrounds us, and look for the extraordinary out there, in order to be happier.”

Photos: Gergana Mancheva