David Hilgier Photographs

Sometimes the end of a commute cannot come soon enough.

Prague’s unmistakable landmarks preside as the backdrop to the city’s daily routine.

Like a figure skater to a rink of ice, he navigates the courtyards of St. Vitus Cathedral on a cold and rainy spring afternoon paying little mind to the status of his surroundings.

I patiently stood there in the rain for a fair amount of time waiting for trams to roll through the tunnel in my direction. With each passage trying out different compositions. Had I not had a camera, I probably would have still stood there to appreciate the novelty of the scene.

The single rider’s gaze into the present or their thoughts obscured by a layer of graffiti on the walls and condensation on the windows of the tram.

A temporary canopy of umbrellas and raincoats is created by those making their way across the cobblestones.

As the only rider of this particular tram, by default, it becomes my personal tour guide through the rainy streets of Prague.

The weather doing little to abate the common stance assumed worldwide while in the midst of waiting for something.

A typical scene of the underground. The ebb and flow of people just departing a train and those looking to catch the next one move through the station. A brief break within the procession of those descending below street level calls attention to details in an individual that might otherwise go missed. In this case, a collage of fabric texture and optics hanging from his neck one mishap away from destruction.

From the caverns of the Prague metro to the streets above, a gray envelops a cool spring day in the city.