Off-Duty Eurocrats in Bruxelles

Late afternoon outside the European Parliament is a curious time. The intensity of the day’s debates, meetings, and bureaucratic rituals evaporates into the chill air, leaving behind something more recognisably human. I caught this scene as the sun was sinking, the light flattening into that pale, slightly diffused wash Brussels often wears in winter.

I framed the shot to emphasise the contrast between the rigid geometry of the architecture and the small figure of the man stepping into the foreground. The curved glass façade on the right dominates, its repeating elements pulling the eye deeper into the image. The building almost seems to lean forward, pressing its presence into the public space. To the left, the bare trees and the odd green dome add texture and break the dominance of the man-made structures.

Technically, the exposure was tricky — the sky was a muted bright, threatening to blow out detail, while the lower half of the frame was far darker. I kept it slightly underexposed to preserve the subtle tones in the clouds and avoid losing the definition in the glass panels. The subdued colour palette works here: the greys, browns, and faint blues reflect the understated personality of the city at this hour.

Compositionally, the figure is not centred; instead, he walks in from the left, which balances the architectural mass on the right. This asymmetry adds tension and movement, even though the scene itself is quiet. The man’s posture — hands in pockets, shoulders slightly hunched — signals the day’s weight lifting, his transformation from an official to just another passer-by.

This photograph, in the end, is less about buildings or politics and more about that moment of release when people shed their work selves. Here, the Parliament becomes simply a backdrop, and the Eurocrat just a man heading home.