Photographers caught in the wave of modernism sought fresh ways to translate the three-dimensional world into the two-dimensional photographic space. Josef Sudek lugged a large-format camera and tripod (despite having lost an arm in the First World War) around Prague to make hundreds of views of his beloved city. His cityscapes-like his still lifes, portraits, and nature views-have a quiet lyricism that led to his reputation as the "poet of Prague." To make this image of the third courtyard of the city's colossal castle complex, he climbed to the top of the nearby St. Vitus Cathedral. From that perspective, Sudek capitalized on the patterns of the people, light, and shadows across the tiled courtyard floor.

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