A lot of my photographic approach boils down to noticing details. (And having a receptive mind, and a camera in hand.) Pretty much everything in the world can be explained by science and mathematics, but when it comes to art, all bets are off. There is a sense of mystery in the world that the artistic side of our minds seek to expose and illuminate.
The Brian Eno song “Sky Saw” offers an insight on this topic:
All the clouds turn to words All the words float in sequence No one knows what they mean Everyone just ignores them
Recently I took a trip to Toronto, a city which I love, and lived in from 1980-1986, and then again from 1993-2005. Nova Scotia is my home now, but I always enjoy visiting the place where I attended university, made friends, got married, had a family, and did a lot of photography.
The purpose of my visit was to deliver photos to The City of Toronto Archives. I’m honoured that there will be a permanent collection of my photos there. It is deeply satisfying that these photos, taken rather randomly in the 1980s and 1990s, will live on and be a part of Toronto’s rich history. (Check out the Ellis Wiley collection if you have a chance.) By randomly, I only mean that at the time I did not intend to document the city in any particular way; only photograph scenes that caught my eye. It will take several months for the photos (700 digital images) to be catalogued, and at the end of it I hope to have an exhibition at the Archives.
During my stay in Toronto, I had a chance to get out and walk around with my camera, just like in the old days. I’m posting black and white photos here because that is what I mainly shot in the 1980s. There have been so many changes in the city over the past several years, yet so many places and aspects of Toronto remain the same. It was a pleasure to explore the city once again with fresh eyes.
What have I been up to lately? Well, spending a bit more time in urban settings, and using a new DSLR that provides a different perspective from my iphone. These recent black and white photos are a mix of street photography and new topographics which aim to let the tones tell part of the story.
The photos, when viewed on a phone, or even a laptop, are so small. I wish they could be seen on a larger scale as some of them contain a information not easily seen in a small photo.
Sometimes certain photos seem to be suspended in time. This one was taken in Toronto in 1980, though it almost looks as if it could be have been from decades earlier, say the 1920s, or 1930s. One thing is for sure, you won’t find this kind of scene in Toronto these days, unless it is on a film set.
Photos taken recently rambling around Hants County, Nova Scotia, with my camera. I’m usually on my way to somewhere and stop to take a few photos. It works better when I’m alone, as I get complaints from family members.”You’ve taken this photo a hundred a hundred times. Let’s get going!” (Perhaps they’re right.)
According to Wikipedia, the name Hants is an old abbreviation for the English county of Hampshire, from the Old English name Hantescire. It’s beautiful here, especially in autumn.
