Seven Cases by Pamela Olson

Seven Cases visually documents several visits to Prague, focusing on my experience as an outsider being led through spaces primarily inhabited by insiders. The images and text are meant to reflect the fragmented nature of my visits over the years, with both abstract and identifiable scenes of the city that break apart and build off of one another. The text is taken directly from words and phrases that were heard, thought, seen, or spoken. The pacing of the book alludes to walking or drifting through urban spaces, and portrays the shifts in mood from neighborhood to neighborhood; inner city to outskirts. The title refers to the complexity of the Czech language and the difficulty that many English speakers experience with its seven grammatical cases. The intricacy of the language is mirrored in the topography of Prague, with its winding streets and hidden passageways. Through this project, I hope to reflect a place that I find beautiful, complex, and at times impenetrable.