My life was quite different forty years ago in 1979. I remember some of that time, but a lot is forgotten. But photographs have a way of bringing the past into sharp focus in a way that almost nothing else can. A moment in 1979, frozen in time.
In 1979, I was in my second year at Acadia University living in residence at Chipman House. I had bought my first guitar–a used Marlin for $25. (This guitar is a Korean knockoff of the legendary Martin guitar–I still play that guitar to this day.) Although I spent some time on my studies, my real passion was taking photographs. Doing assignments for the school paper The Athenaeum was good training and taught me a lot about getting the shot even under difficult conditions. It also taught me the importance of meeting deadlines. We would often be working frantically in the darkroom right up until the last minute before putting the paper to bed.
In the summer of 1979, I got a job working on a railway gang in Wainwright, Alberta. How I got that job, and ended up there is a long and winding story. It was a summer of physical labour, working in the sun doing track maintenance–a good job for a twenty year old. With my photographs, I tried then as I do now, to capture a mood, or a feeling. I didn’t know much back then, but I could recognize good light and at times could capture a moment. It’s what Henri Cartier-Bresson called “a joint operation of the brain, the eye and the heart.”
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Fantastic b & w shots, Avard!
Great photos. Great time in Canadian life. I wish I had a time machine to go back to the good old days.
Thank you, Simon.
Great story and even greater images. Hats off, Avard!
Hello!
Thank you, Markus.
Thank you, Robert.
avard…. love this head lights and gas glow reminds me of film noir, mark this as another one of your early master works. hope you’re well markus
Thank you, Mark. Like so much of my early work, this one was on a contact sheet that I never really looked at before. Sometimes I discover a gem or two, but believe me, there is a lot of mediocre stuff in there.
I always wondered who was the author of ” brain, the eye and the heart” thing as it is mentioned very often. Great story, and pleasing photos to look at.
Thank you, Pavel. It’s an interesting quote that sort of sums up the process.