There are many empty cities around the world. Some, like Chernobyl, are abandoned because of tragedy, some became deserted slowly and steadily getting totally empty or keeping a few last families of elder people. No matter what the reason there was a city – a small world with its multiple micro-world (its people, its citizens). It was living its own life.. until in one moment everything changed.
There used to be some “before”, in this “before”there were people walking in the street, car passing by and so on. Suddenly the “after” happened and it all disappeared. So it is still there a little bit.
When one looks at the pictures of cities like Chernobyl it’s possible to feel the gaping emptiness, an emotional black hole. As if all the life that was there got suddenly pulled out, roots included.
I suppose that in the normal cities one can feel an imprint of that impression even by simply walking in the streets. I get goose bumps on every square meter that I walk. Only few minutes ago there was a man rushing with flowers to his date, before him half an hour ago a girl was walking here thinking if she should keep the baby, before her – a man thinking if his wife knows about his lover, before him – a young boy thinking about a bad note he got today in school and considering it the end of the world, before him – a woman with breast cancer realising that won’t tell anything to her family because they don’t have money for treatment.. They are all here.. They are all here on this square meter. An invisible microphoto of all people that passed this place. It’s hanging here over this very square meter even when actual people actually rushed by long time ago.
Bottom line – a seemingly alive city where everyone’s running somewhere is actually a ghost city full of lost and forgotten spirits of people that still inhabit it or did long time ago.