Railway stations are the stuff of romantic dreams, assignations and intrigue.
Countless films have revolved around journeys by train, the destinations, the lives of those who travel, or simply sit drinking coffee, waiting…
There is something about the atmosphere of anticipation that lifts the spirit.
Carriages lined up, waiting to be hauled off to far away places.
For me the the prospect of a journey by train conjures up a sense of adventure that a wait in an airport lounge fails to do.
Belgrade’s central station shares space with the city’s main bus station. For many this is the first time they see belgradestreets.
Like many buildings and streets in the city it has a faded charm, a sense of a glorious past and times gone by.
The trains that fill its platforms are now, as are belgradestreets, the canvas for the artists who are never seen but whose work is ever present.
I will write more about that another time.
The site on which the station sits was once, I feel optimistically, named “bara venecija” a comparison with the lagoon of Venice which most would consider a challenging association.
Built in 1884, the station was badly damaged in both the First and Second World Wars. My Komshe guidebook “Belgrade in your hands” explains that the station was designed by Dragutin Milutinović, the son of classicist poet, Sima Milutinović Sarajlija.
The Orient Express once passed this way.
During my visit the trains were leaving for Novi Sad, although one set of carriages with sleeper cabins and a cage for motor vehicles hinted at more far flung destinations.
A quick check in Wikipedia tells a tale of a new station to be built at Prokop, although as far as I can tell that plan remains just that, a plan?
For me, however neglected, the station calls out to the explorer in me…the siren call of far away places waiting to be discovered…
belgradestreets 
amazing pics 😀 … With your camera you made Belgrade train station looks better … x)
Thank you, much appreciated. I think Belgrade is a beautiful city and hope more people will learn to appreciate that and visit with time! 😉
Another fabulous set Andy. Your compositional vision is powerful, four-square, informative and discerning. I really like your creative eye for composition, especially when you forget which way is up. Great, gritty and often luminous, I enjoy your subtle approach to toning and colour. Very sophisticated. The detail shots are highly informative and you have a great sense of placement…….. so to sum up……. not bad…. 🙂 ;-))
Best regards, John.
John, I am truly humbled by your comments, I appreciate them so very much especially coming from someone with your photographic skills and experience. All I can say is that I am having tremendous fun with my camera and have a subject, in Belgrade, that just asks to be captured. I have much to learn and want to do so. Once again, thank you so much for taking time to look and for your very generous comments! 🙂
I make few comments….. and never say ‘nice’ unless the photographer has made a big impact on me….. you have…… you have earned my respect for the diverse range and enviable image quality….. some day you must tell me your secret for those ‘luminous’ monochromes. So glad that you enjoy photography…. it comes through in the pictures you take…. like the header image here.
John
Your comments truly make my day! And mean a lot to me, all I can say (again!) is thank you…I have always enjoyed photography and am now lucky enough to have some great equipment to help me. When I first started belgradestreets it was a little experimental and most of the shots were captured with my iPhone, now I tend to use my Nikon D700 and take a little more time…as for the luminous effect I use a combination of Aperture 3 with the Nik Silver Efex Pro b&w plugin, there are some wonderful filters and also old film simulators hidden away in there, easy to lose hours trying to get the right look, sometimes feels like ‘cheating” which is why I took the images of the flowers in the park which came fresh from the camera with no editing. I do love b&w and actually have a fresh roll of b&w film in old OM-10, just need the courage to use it again (and find a processing lab here in Belgrade!), of course I do appreciate that the main thing is to catch the light in the first place….more soon, and once again thank you so much for your kind comments and interest in my project