Pastel Canal – Utrecht, Netherlands

A rather muted JPEG from the Fujifilm X100S turned into a pleasant pastel as I amped the colors. This picture looks especially bucolic to me and I couldn’t place my finger on it. I’m no expert on canals in The Netherlands, but scene from Utrecht somehow looks different from Amsterdam. Then I figured it out.

There are no cars. In my photos of Amsterdam, the cars that are parked by the canals always bugged me. They just clashed with the timeless beauty of the architecture and urban design. There is nothing overtly modern in this picture, not even the boat. I have nothing against modernity and technology, in fact I embrace much of it, but it just doesn’t harmonize with a place like this.

I’m not sure how much I’ll like living in these smaller houses, but the scale and density of the city seems very pleasant. The proportions are right. They are at a human scale that comforts and doesn’t overwhelm. I’m sure the parking is terrible and there’s no quick drive to the mall, as is the objective of American suburban design, but there is something to be said for beauty and charm.