Šibenik old town street opens towards the distinctive stone dome of St. James Cathedral in the heart of the historic Croatian city. Warm afternoon light falls across the limestone façades and polished paving stones, while a striking Gothic portal with green wooden doors dominates the foreground. Despite the time of day, the street appears almost completely deserted.
How is that possible, you might ask? To create this unusually empty street, I combined a 10-stop ND filter with a polarising filter, which allowed me to use a 25-second exposure. I waited for a moment with as few pedestrians as possible. As long as people keep moving at a steady pace, they do not remain visible in the final photograph. One person stopped briefly in the frame and created a “ghostly apparition”, which I removed in post-processing.
The ornate portal stands in Jurja Barakovića Street and dates from the second half of the 15th century. It is an exceptional example of Gothic secular architecture in Šibenik. Its lunette contains a mysterious coat of arms with a dog motif and two sculpted warriors. One originally carried a halberd, while the other is shown drawing a crossbow. Two smaller male figures, known as telamons, appear to support the arch above the capitals. This unusual group of sculptures makes the portal remarkable even among the richly decorated historic buildings of Dalmatia.
Interestingly, the sculptural decoration already shows signs of the emerging Renaissance style. Croatian conservation authorities have even noted similarities with the work associated with Juraj Dalmatinac, the great master who played a central role in the construction of the nearby St. James Cathedral. However, the exact authorship of the portal remains uncertain.
At the end of the street, the dome of St. James Cathedral rises above the surrounding buildings.
Artist’s note: One ghostly figure who remained visible after the long exposure was removed in post-processing.
Copyright Milan Hutera, 2026. All Rights Reserved.
