craig sinclair photography

Juxtaposition

2012-01-07T01:02:00.000-08:00

Curbside displays.

Lights

2011-12-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a while.

Harrison BC

2011-11-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

In an odd sideways moment (who plans to go to Harrison BC when you live in Vancouver?) I ended up looking across this lake on a stormy Friday afternoon. The lake was oddly green, the sky heavy, but the weather was oddly muted.

Two hours later the wind had churned the lake into a black oily mess, scattered the clouds, and let the sun cut through the gaps left by mountains.

figs

2011-11-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

Hanging out with Sophie.

2011-08-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

There she is. We're hanging out.

Places to call home.

2011-08-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

Red

2011-08-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

...and blue.

Infatuations...

2011-08-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

Like a painting. But a photograph. And an element of timelessness to it. I should print it out and mount it to a plank of pine with burnt edges and bury it in shellac. Or something.

Wanderful.

2011-08-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

My friend and photographer Chris Davey has started a photographic series where she visits different neighborhoods in Vancouver and documents them for Vancouver Is Awesome. I thought it would be interesting to visit the same subject matter through a different camera and see how two people see the same neighborhood differently. I did the exercise with two different cameras on the same day, one digital, and one film. I may chase her down a few of the other neighborhoods she's explored if I can find the time. It's been a fun experiment.

Relics

2011-05-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

The last movie to ever show at the East Van Cinemas was The Social Network. The poster is still up in the case, faded somewhat and wrinkled. I am a big proponent of seeing movies in the context they were meant to be seen. This is what's left of the East Van Cinemas, a popcorn machine orphaned in a gutted, flooded lobby. The Hollywood is going as well. And others I'm sure. To be honest, I saw a couple of movies at the East Van Cinema and the sound was bad, the seats uncomfortable, and the projection was ever so slightly out of focus on a dirty screen. But the answer wasn't shutting it down, the answer was to fix it up. Two less theaters in Vancouver this year. I wonder how many more will disappear next.

The Rio is, however, still open. And it is making an effort to stave off the inevitable. For instance, I may have to go and see The Outsiders (I mean, just look at the cast, and directed by Francis Coppola) and Rumble Fish (seriously, Tom Waits, Dennis Hopper, Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon, just to name a few, Coppola genius abounding) midnight double bill. Even if I fall asleep because of the midnight start time, I'd feel good knowing the Rio got a few of my hard earned bucks because they are making the effort to do such things.

Besides, we have enough relics. We don't need more things to feel nostalgic about, we need more things to feel good about.

May 25, 2011.

2011-05-26T00:38:00.001-07:00

Revisiting Kitsilano

2011-05-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

The Fuji X100 is the most frustrating camera I've ever owned. And the only one I've used recently with rare exception. It makes me want to buy a 35mm fixed focal length lens for my main camera since, despite the notoriety of the "standard" 50mm lens, it's a nearly perfect all around focal length. If not for the fact that it's out of stock I might strain my credit card a bit more and mail order it tonight. And I might be tempted by a Leica X1 if not for the fact that I don't think it would be any better than the Fuji despite costing a fair bit more.

Someone will make the perfect camera one day. I just wish they would hurry up and do it.

Long Beach, BC

2011-05-01T23:18:00.001-07:00

I hadn't been to Long Beach in maybe 14 years. It's been a long time but I remembered it being one of the most incredible places on the planet.

Whimsical. And gesturing. And this tree, plucked from the ground and transported to this tabla where it could be examined without hindrances. With artifacts fleetingly placed in a morphing landscape. And monuments more demonstrative than anything man made.

It shouldn't be 14 years again.

2011-04-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

film...

2011-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

I got 4 rolls of film back from the lab today. Some hundred or so shots. I'm amazed at how dusty that shit is. A quick swipe of the negatives and the scanner bed before each cycle of scanning seems completely ineffective. And there's a weight upon film that may or may not be justified but at the very least makes most of my photographs overthought, overwrought, mediocre at best.

But interestingly there's a whole section of photographs where my daughter must have picked up my camera and pointed it rather randomly at blurry things, or things made blurry if I'm going to be accurate about this. That was good. And this photo of Sophie-Monster makes me happy. Not a bad way to spend $20.

More photos to come. I'm pretty sure I can rationalize the artistic intent of at least two more photos. Warranted or otherwise...

2011-02-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

Somewhat related, both pictures were taken around the same area and both speak of a lost tradition. There are still delivery trucks but not in the quantity and regularity they used to exist in. And this sign, hand painted. Yes, laser cut vinyl or bubble jet printing, awesomely slick, but I can be a romantic. Hand painted signs are slowly disappearing. I think that's unfortunate.

Wrapped

2011-02-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

There's something comical about wrapping a building in tarps. For all the technologies and innovations made in building envelope design it comes wrapping big sheets of plastic around it. I'm sure it's a metaphor for something, at least in my mind it is, but I'll let you explore your own.

Iona Beach, Vancouver. December 6, 2010

2010-12-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

A rare sunny day in December combined with an even rarer day off made these photos possible. When I set out on these kinds of adventures I'm happy to come back with one or two photos I'm happy with. Imagine my surprise when I found more than half a dozen.

I still don't understand my infatuation with landscapes especially when I'm so critical of them in the world of art and photography.

More here.

Orphans.

2010-11-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

This. I don't know what to say about this other than I like it.

October 4, 1971, 39 years later.

2010-10-05T23:49:00.001-07:00

More here.

Sophie

2010-08-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

It's the closest to studio photography I've ever come. It started with me wanting to get a photo of the bruises on her nose. She ran fast one day, I wanted to say "too" fast but I don't know if that's possible, and she tripped. Her nose bled for minutes. Tears were shed. And four days or so later and she's doing this. Awesome.

Ontario

2010-06-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

A lot of people mention "the ocean" as a reason for living in BC. The Great Lakes always seemed more majestic to me.

simplicity

2010-05-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Between the Cracks...

2010-04-13T22:10:00.001-07:00

A lot of things fell between the cracks over the years. It would seem some of them have grown into trees while I wasn't looking. I think that's a good thing.

Tree

2010-01-21T02:06:00.000-08:00

I need to pay more attention to this place.

untitled

2009-12-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

There is something inherently wrong with not owning up to an image, to not giving it a name, a title. I'll endeavor to understand more clearly why I like this picture, to give it a name. Maybe. But if I don't, let it be known that I am aware I should.

Rain

2009-11-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

It's unrelenting here, the rain, sometimes. And as a person who purports to take photographs the idea of short, rainy days seems counter to the medium. But on occasion things like this happen. And even though there are other places I would rather be on any given day it isn't so bad being here when it's raining.

Anywhere but here

2009-10-28T01:21:00.000-07:00

rain

2009-10-20T01:25:00.001-07:00

I can almost hear it.

The View From Here

2009-10-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

These are all images taken from bridges in Vancouver with a Leica M3.

To me they all have a small town feel to them, rural even, and yet they are all taken in the heart of Canada's third largest city, not that cities in Canada are that large, the combined populations of Greater Vancouver and Metro Toronto barely equaling that of New York City. Technically Vancouver proper only has 500,000 people in it. But still, it's a city.

Tilt-shift photography gained popularity as a means of distorting the scale of environments some years ago and while it can still be effective it's become somewhat of a parlour trick much like many of the effects that come stock with Photoshop. What I like about these images is there's no distortion of scale but simply a change in perspective but that perspective isn't unobtainable, anyone in Vancouver with a bicycle and an afternoon to spare can find these views with ease. It's a perspective that allows the viewer to understand scale better, juxtaposition of manmade and nature, or even manmade to manmade. They speak of erosions and evolutions, relationships, connections. And secret places, sometimes new and beautiful, sometimes with the sheen worn off but still loved, sometimes exploited, sometimes transitional.

sunrise

2009-10-05T20:40:00.001-07:00

2009-08-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

film

2009-07-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to argue the colours that so naturally appear when you shoot film. I'm a little sad that there's images from last fall on this roll of film that I only just got developed this month but in my defense there are no less than four cameras in my possession at the moment with film in them. (sadly, they each probably have pictures as old as the one above.)

Film

2009-07-15T00:02:00.001-07:00

It really is hard to argue against how warm film is.

Half Frame Cameras

2009-07-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

I recently found a Konica EYE half frame camera at a garage sale. It had found its way into the "free" pile and being unable to resist 1: cameras and 2: free stuff, I ended up with it in my bag. It's a weird piece, very few adjustments or settings and it takes two pictures per traditional film frame. But it's not without faults. The roll of 24 I put into the camera should have yielded 48 vertical format images but instead I ended up with about half that. I thought I was being gentle with what I expected from it exposure wise, shooting mostly in bright light, holding the camera exceptionally steady, avoiding moving subject matter, but it would seem only about half of what I pointed it at was exposed properly. This would include the image above which is actually two images, not necessarily panned either, I'm certain they wouldn't collage together if I could remove the black bar between exposures. They do twin up nicely and they are one of the few good exposures I got from the camera. It will be hard to rationalize putting another roll of film into the camera but I'm glad I did it this one.

There's this one too, I suppose.

You don't have a lot of say about what pictures end up beside each other in the processing and scanning. I mean, yes, I define the order in which the pictures are taken but the juxtaposition of one against another is pretty much a 50/50 affair. Yet, the groupings of the few images that did work out are pretty spot on. I like these two images beside one another. It's good they weren't separated during scanning.

light

2009-06-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

It's a little after first light but it always seems to me like the buildings are reaching up and grabbing the sunlight out of the sky.

Another Monday, Same Sophie

2009-05-26T09:32:00.001-07:00

Sophie and I spend lots of days together, or part days. Mom gets her a lot of the time. I work some days. And there's daycare. But every so often we get to spend a whole day together without chores involved, without distractions. Two parks and sprinkler time, a picnic, and ice cream. It was a good day.

Paths

2009-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Home

2009-05-13T16:43:00.001-07:00

I have charged my good friend Johann Groebner with painting me a painting to be titled "Home is where the heart is." I suspect that with any artist the hardest part is the muse. This is a short series titled "Home" but I don't know if this is where you'd find the heart. Perhaps it's where you would find a heart, and perhaps that's why I've taken the photos. I gave Johann the challenge to create the painting but perhaps I should rise to the challenge myself and try to find that photograph that suggests "Home is where the heart is." It would indeed be a challenge because I'm not sure I've found a place for my heart and I suspect it might be some time before I do.

all these brilliant disguises

2009-04-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Little Things

2009-04-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Confessions of an addict.

Recently

2009-04-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

The first one, the starker one, it may have a more powerful message. The second one, it works because of the first one.

This was taken the same day as the other two. It's a colour photograph but most of the colour had been sucked up by the clouds.

Simulacrum revisited

2009-03-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

There are so many distortions here I don't know where to start. So I won't.

crows

2009-02-18T14:03:00.000-08:00

They come as a swarm, literally hundreds of them, heading to the lake just blocks away from the house. It really is quite eerie.

Santa says...

2009-02-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

Not much to say these days. I have a new camera arriving early next week, a little point and shoot but of a higher quality than most. At least I hope it is. Should be interesting to see how it affects what I'm taking pictures of.

Listening to Eric's Trip, Behind the Garage. It's an old one. I've been listening to a lot of older music these days. My days of walking into BeatRoute contributor meetings and walking out with a fist full of new indie music have dried up but two years of that means all the old stuff I have and neglected to listen to sounds new again. Oh yeah, and I still have your Smashing Pumpkins CD, if you ever want it back...

Monday with Sophie

2009-02-03T01:41:00.000-08:00

I've meant to do a "day in the life of" series with Sophie for a while now. Today we did it. You can view the whole thing here as a slide show but I should warn you it's the kind of thing that may be more interesting to relatives. There's a lot of pictures there, a days worth I guess, but at least I'm not holding you captive as I get out the wallet full of photographs. We had a good day today. She walks a lot for a kid just over 2. And I could take a photograph of her eating breakfast every day for a week and you'd more often than not see her eating French toast. She's a good kid.

voyeur/surveillance

2009-01-20T11:12:00.001-08:00

I suppose being a voyeur is an intrinsic part of being a photographer who likes to take less formal images focused (pun intented) on the casually observed. I mention Eggleston a lot in conversations about photography and it's a skill that he has sharply honed. Every photograph gives the viewer the anonymity coveted by the voyeur, the ability to sit and stare, to study the details, to linger on that which may be impolite or improper to notice in polite company.

This photograph is about being a voyeur but more about the act of voyeurism. It's an attempt to capture the act of voyeurism or surveillance, not about what is being observed or the observer. It's the inbetween space, the action, not that act or the actor. I don't want to take a photograph of William Eggleston, I want to take a photograph of his camera, or even better, if it were possible, I would like to take a photograph of the light entering his camera.

I've been feeling a little directionless lately when it comes to photography. I suspect this will be a part of an ongoing project.

ideas

2009-01-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

So often it's not about the light but about the absence of light. Is it possible to take photographs of the voids?

And trees. I've taken these pictures before, some seven years ago even. Perhaps I will see if I can find them.

I've been in a funk lately. I might have been looking forward to the excuse of oppressive and incessant Vancouver rain but it's been sunny more often than not. The snow at Christmas stuck around for the better part of two weeks because of the lack of rain. There's still hints of it along many side streets, snow banks clinging to curbs.

Is there an equivalent to writer's block for photographers?

The last time I took a photo every day it seemed to sap my energy from time to time. Is the same happening now?

I don't know. But in the mean time Jennilee Marigomen is a good way to spend some time. And maybe I'll find a photograph today. Or maybe not.

Burrard Bridge

2009-01-17T21:48:00.000-08:00

I spent some time walking around the other day. I'm usually walking across the Burrard bridge but this day I was on the Granville bridge and got a somewhat unique view crossing over False Creek.

doors

2009-01-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

The idea of individual expression when manifesting itself in two identical buildings is amusing.

Fleeting moments

2009-01-13T02:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not one for taking photographs of flowers. These particular flowers though, they were planted by someone who is about to step away from my life. She's a wonderful person and I'll miss her dearly. But I can't help but think these flowers are a metaphor for our relationship. These flowers spring from bulbs that precariously perch themselves atop a small handful of stones and a drop of water and they grow at an alarming rate. Today they grew somewhere around 3 inches or so. Incredible. And they produce these beautiful flowers for a few days and then they die. You pop the bulbs back into whatever cloth sack you might find handy and wait again until next year.

I've known Sabina for essentially a year and she's a good egg. I'll miss her.

open

2009-01-09T00:47:00.001-08:00

Sometimes the pictures just don't fit in with anything else.

Home Disappearing

2008-12-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

The rest of Home Disappearing

Ideas about landscapes, Part 2

2008-11-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

The "landscape" formally has always been about the "stage." Perhaps the greatest creator of landscapes, Frederick Law Olmsted, made a career out of creating stages, not the least of which was Central Park in New York City, the most contrived of "natural" landscapes that ever has been. Poetic landscapes have been the subject matter of painters and landscape architects alike. While the painting genre was formally recognized in the 15th Century it wasn't until the early 19th Century that the idealistic scenes as depicted in most landscape paintings began to impress on the ideals of society. The elements of compositional rules were similar with forgrounds competing with backdrops, standards in proportion, and even when complete wilderness was depicted there was often an allowance for human occupation or a destination within the image or quite often a description of a voyage from one part of the image to another.

This photograph is another study in this medium that I previously proclaimed little affinity for. The elements of the composition in the forground act to frame the background and the bench is quite a literal invitation to occupy the space but its position and orientation directs the viewer to look back or out of the frame. The elements seem, well, elemental. This seems nearly identical compostionally though it's not a painting I would say I like. But also consider that Asher B Durand, a 19th Century landscape painter did this similarly composed image a long time before I took that photograph today.

The landscape as a formal exploration is something that continues to be a challenge. Looking at the work of Vancouver photographer Roy Arden is a good example of that, the compositional building blocks are distorted or minimalized and yet the proportions and framing are all too familiar in his photographs, Landfill being one such example.

I suspect there will be more to this tangent than I first anticipated when I rode out into the bush with a camera on my back a week or so ago.

Ideas about green and landscapes

2008-11-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am first and foremost not a landscape photographer and it's something I rarely try. And a dark and misty day is probably the worst day to attempt something that at the best of times I am dismissive of. Trees. Big whup. A babbling brook. So what. But it should be said that taking pictures, err, photographs of landscapes is no easy task. These are proof. You can haul a bag full of exotic lenses out into the bush on your back and Photoshop the greens to boggle the mind because the photos rarely do them justice and in the end still get moderately reasonable photographs but certainly nothing mind boggling. So why post them? Well, probably to keep myself honest. I'll attempt this sort of thing again probably sooner than I care to admit. There has to be merit in understanding the subject matter and capturing it effectively, it can only make one a better photographer.

Organic Matters

2008-11-09T13:02:00.001-08:00

You can't use a box of crayons if you're going to create a masterpiece though that is probably giving this one too much credit. I took this picture with a different camera for a different project and there is a large difference in quality. The other picture has more to do with this and the pictures that I take along those lines aren't about technique or metaphors or much really, but more about pretty things I see along the way. Hugh Crawford took a Polaroid every day from 1979 until he died in 1997. His photographs tell an amazing story without words. There are no names, no addresses, just pictures but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and after 18 years of daily photographs there are a lot of words implied.

More random images

2008-11-09T12:43:00.001-08:00

Tree

Storage

I may take this one off of here, it's a little...

Parasite

I don't think that should be the title of this. Maybe "survival"? Don't know.

The Scent of Amber

Fireworks

There's little direction to these images. There's little consistency in subject matter, style, theme. I suspect I'm distracted by other things but I still carry my camera, or two cameras, with me everywhere. The days are getting exceptionally short and, of course, we passed the day that it was figured it would be a good idea to shift the clocks an hour so it's getting dark at around 5pm. The light we get in winter is often delightful, the soft, cool, low light, but it's scarce and there's the rain to deal with here in Vancouver which isn't the best thing to expose cameras to. Still, the pictures are coming, slowly, and the metaphors are there, the little narratives.

random images

2008-10-29T02:46:00.001-07:00

I have a new camera and a couple of new lenses and, like a new pair of shoes, they are taking a little while to break in. You sometimes forget that the new "tools" don't always automatically bring better results. It's like a television, you buy a new one and it's bigger and brighter and flatter with better sound and the remote is really cool but the crap you can watch on it is the same crap that you could watch on your old television, only it's clearer crap, brighter crap, crisper crap, with better sound. That being said, here's some crap from the last few weeks taken with a camera that's getting more and more comfortable in my hands every day.

The Argument

Self Portrait Number Eight (thank you Nikkor 50/1:1.4D)

Nostalgia (this is the same picture that I took some ten or twelve years ago, I have the original and I will scan it in the near future and attach it here)

Ed. There are very few photographs of Ed.

Honestly

And Then

One We Were Here

2008-10-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

I have an infatuation with temporary artifacts, small cues as to what might have happened not long ago, fleeting moments that seem so insignificant as they happen but are more important than they let on at the time. It's the little things that are important and it's usually the little things that get skimmed over.

Dining

2008-10-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

I should have stopped down on this one a bit, the depth of field is just a hair shy of getting the candle and the lace table cover over the front edge of the table. One stop is all it would have taken I'm sure. But still the image does most of what i wanted it to.

You rarely think about video and photography together but I found this video about a favourite photographer Todd Hido and then there was this video about John Chiara that is pretty inspiring. John is a new one to me and I look at his process and it boggles the senses that he goes through such a convuluted effort to come up with a single image in a day but the images are pretty emotional and chock full of narrative which is something I struggle with in a lot of my photographs. Even though I think I missed today's image technically I think I got the emotion and narrative I was looking for which is why it's here. I'll take it again one day soon and see if I can get the technical side down as well but for now this will do.

hiatus

2008-09-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

New camera, a need for software to understand it, and life. It all makes taking photographs confusing. Maybe I should buy a film scanner and be done with it. It was so simple. The day I get CS3 I search the internet for the RAW converter for my cutting edge technology digital camera only to find out I'm already obsolete, that CS4 is rearing it's ugly head to make those of us new to CS3 feel that much more out of date. And a new computer with an uncalibrated screen. For all I know the image for today is lime green and pink. Oh well. I'm sure I will be up to speed shortly and maybe I'll even find a day to take photographs again. That might be alright.

Birthday Jam

2008-09-21T09:10:00.001-07:00

Here's the rest of the set from the Birthday Jam.

portraits

2008-09-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

A good friend of mine lent me a Leica M3 film camera. "When do you want it back?" I asked. "I'll let you know when, let's leave it at that," he said. It's an amazingly soulful piece of equipment, heavier than you would imagine, and it feels very good in your hands. Since the camera was generously loaned to me by a friend I figured a reasonable first chore for it would be to take pictures of my friends with it. It's been fun but I'm not done yet. There's still film in the camera and it goes most places with me. For now this is a good start. I would suggest clicking on the slideshow button to view the set.

Jarvis

2008-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

I should take more pictures of people.

An aside, I was recently made away of Elliot Erwitt. He's one of those photographers we all know but didn't realize who he was. A surprising number of his images are very familiar, we've all seen them before, but at least I have never given him credit, never realized they were all the product of one man.

Birthday Jam

2008-08-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Johann turns 40 this year. It's not that big of a deal to him but everyone else is making a big deal out of it asking him what he wants for his birthday or what he wants to do. He's a drummer and been in a number of bands but sold his drum kit a while ago before going to Austria for a few months. For his birthday he thought it would be pretty cool if people didn't get him "stuff' but rather if he could get together with a few of his musician friends and "jam" for a while it would be pretty amazing.

More images from the jam to follow.

Later that same day...

2008-08-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

They were closed but I would have bought a refreshing beverage if they were open.

castles

2008-08-15T08:44:00.001-07:00

There are interesting tensions in this image. The idea of sending out for food which is brought by a servant of sorts to your home that is protected by a buzzer board. It's public vs private, and the blue sky reflecting in the window subverts that relationship somewhat by embodying quite visually the metaphor of freedom through isolation and rejection. But that's where the delivery guy comes in, despite the fortress, despite the safety, there will always be risks, the need to let others in.

found

2008-08-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

introspective

2008-08-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

as opposed to retrospective.

more random images

2008-08-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Two more random images. The first image was inspired by another one I saw of an intriguing doorway. There's something about the directional door handle plates that I really like. I'm not sure I have much to say about the second image except that it makes me happy.

Laura

2008-07-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

I've just gotten some film scanned. I forget I even took this photograph of my friend Laura.

Random Images, err, well, not so "random"

2008-07-12T16:15:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure where these fit in. There are long discussions to be had about what makes a good photograph, what makes a good picture, what makes art. The first image is the easiest to address an underlying narrative to, the other two may simply be compositional exercises. I see the irony in the fact that I get more obsessive about the images as they get more vague. The top image, the one of the baggage carousel, it took quite a while to fix the distortion that the lens put into it, and it makes me covet the $1800 lenses I see available for my camera.

I like the idea that somewhere a bag arrives where it's supposed to but the person who was supposed to accompany that bag changed his mind last minute and decided to go somewhere else. Go home? Go away? Doesn't matter. The bag ended up where the person thought he/she should go and it would probably be an interesting story if there were ever a way to know it.

Untitled

2008-07-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

There was a precariousness that was evident. The world, often considered a nemesis of sorts for her, pushed back despite her best efforts to contain it.

Mostly she hoped to not be noticed but there was no containing her. She was too dissimilar. And that’s why he loved her and also why he could never tell her.

Noesis

2008-07-01T22:10:00.001-07:00

On the Cusp

2008-07-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

Storm clouds are gathering.

Paths and Destinations

2008-06-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

Notions of conformity and regularity

2008-06-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

This is an old one from Calgary. I haven't had much time/energy to be taking many pictures lately. I do have four roles of exposed film I need to get developed one day soon and a project well underway and a second one that has just begun so I suspect there will be lots soon but for now...

Puddle Jumping

2008-06-10T14:53:00.001-07:00

It's pissing rain in Vancouver which really shouldn't come as any big surprise but still, it's getting tired this incessant rain and the cool temperatures. There's been a couple of warm days but for the most part the days get up to 14 degrees and I'm still riding to work with a jacket and gloves on. When they brag about the weather out here it's usually in the winter when the rest of this country is buried under snow and bone chilling temperatures. It was a rare weekend where I got to hang out with my daughter for two days in a row (Christ, it's rare when I get to hang out with her for one full day with all the commuting I've been doing back to Calgary to renovate the old house) and the best laid plans of mice and men, well, we all know how that goes. So there I am looking out the window and cursing the relentless downpour ruining a day when there should have been playgrounds and swingsets and trips to the market down the street when I remember that humans are somewhere between 55 and 70% water and most of our openings are waterproof or at the very least highly water resistant so why wouldn't we go out and find a couple of puddles to jump in? I couldn't tear Sophie away from the puddles, she thought it fabulous, though her jumping skills aren't fully developed yet as she barely manages an inch or so clearance off the ground. Still, it was enough to make a splash and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Me? I've got to admit jumping in the puddles was alright by me too.

Essentials

2008-06-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still alive. This is a photograph I took in Paris last summer. It's of LeCorbusier's apartment. When he lived there it was a much more cluttered space. This image is about the essentials. Having just moved (still moving?) I can appreciate the inventory of possessions as seen in this photograph. It looks like a lovely place to be.

paradise...

2008-05-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

There's a sign that hangs above the bar in the Cameron House in Toronto that says "This Is Paradise." I imagine driving there one day, from wherever it is I happen to be, not particularly quickly but with purpose. It's been suggested before that life isn't about the destination, it's about the journey, but sometimes it's nice to know where you're going too.

Beauty is where you find it

2008-05-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is a Regina bicycle chain from around the mid 80's. It came off a beautiful handmade bike made by some small builder that you and I have never heard of. I should have taken pictures of the bike but I didn't. I did take pictures of the chain and some of the components as they came off the bike. This chain, it has hollow pins except for a small grouping where the chain was designed to be broken for removal and installation. You can see a couple of those links at the top center of the image.

It's just a bike chain, yes. But the energy that went into making this idea a reality, the idea of hollow chain rivets, well, wow, that's really cool. And that it was made to last, made to be "owned" instead of "used," well that's priceless.

It's about time I went for a bike ride. Not commuting, not going from a to b, not simply pushing the pedals and making the bike go forward, but a real honest bike ride where you get to close your eyes sometimes, and hit curbs, and run through puddles with your feet in the air. It's about time.

edges

2008-05-02T10:56:00.001-07:00

I've not had much time to take photographs lately but I always seem to have a camera on me. Having recently re-found an appreciation for film the process of coming up with photographs has been slowed somewhat. I do have a compact disc chock full of digital scans of negatives but as a part of my new found ludditism (appreciation of the mechanical over digital camera) the computer holding that disc isn't even plugged in so it's trapped in its grip until I get motivated to release it.

These images are all digital and somewhat randomly happened upon taken at different times on different days. There was an idea about "transitions" that was to be an underlying theme with them but it's really manifest itself as "edges."

I should also mention that while I like each one of these images individually as a set, especially as presented here, I'm not very happy with them. Oh well.

perspective

2008-05-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered if there was someone looking back.

Sabina

2008-04-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

We went for breakfast a few weeks ago and she indulged the old camera I dragged along. All of these are scanned from film. It's nice to be shooting film again.

Passion

2008-04-17T10:02:00.001-07:00

It's her birthday today. Happy Birthday.

Landscapes

2008-04-06T16:43:00.001-07:00

There's a long and involved explanation for this picture. The short one that will have to do for now is that everything in this image is contrived.

voids

2008-04-06T01:04:00.001-07:00

Two from today (yesterday? I'm up late) making it three in total. The first one is a simple compositional exercise but this second one is kind of neat to me. It's taken pretty much at the dead center of what I would consider Vancouver, Main Street and Terminal Street. It seems so odd to find such an expanse at the heart of a city where every square meter seems to be being developed for housing or some sort of Olympic affair. It has the same effect as a grassy plateau that appeared once when I was mountain biking in Moab. Amongst the red rocky terrain with steep brutal climbs and mesas off in the distance, as I crested the climb I was greeted with a completely out of place meadow. It was like stepping through the looking glass into another world. That's how this part of Vancouver feels, desolate and abandoned in the heart of highly coveted or feverishly gripped space. It's a relief to stand there, to feel free of the city while standing at its center.

Be part of something bigger.

2008-04-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of irony in this sign for me. The average house price in February 2008 in Vancouver was $632,000, or $92,000 more than it was a year ago. In Toronto it was $382,000, only $14,000 more than it was a year ago. And what's surprising is that the average price of a house in Calgary is $415,000. Who would have thought Toronto would be a cheaper place to live than Calgary? Anyway, the sign is for a condo development about to be started on an empty lot here in Vancouver and I find the sign ironic.

Morning chores....

2008-04-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

Sabina says, "my brakes aren't working."

"Perhaps new cables?"

"You think? Let's find out..." and then the bars were carefully unwrapped so as to not damage the cork tape. A cable is freed from the brake and the lever and friction is detected. "Yup, I think so."

She's making rye bread and banana bread with chocolate chips today. I'm bringing home a couple of brake cables and some cable housing. It was a good way to start the day.

Jesus drives a Cadillac...

2008-04-03T17:16:00.001-07:00

Artifacts

2008-03-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Insomnia

2008-03-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

I couldn't sleep last night so I went out and found this photograph. But who does one call at four in the morning?

good fences and a roller coaster

2008-03-26T02:19:00.001-07:00

These two images have a very oppressive feeling to them, like being trapped, or held prisoner. I find it somewhat disconcerting that this image can be found an alley way away from one of the hippest parts of Vancouver. But I've seen the same in Toronto, in Chicago, in New York, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I found this picture amongst my older files. It looks like a collage of images to me, but perhaps that's all memories are.

Though I feel like I've finally found "my" colour in a desaturated high contrast form I think I've been inspired to shoot black and white for a while.

It's her birthday...

2008-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Krista. It's her birthday today. I've always liked this picture of her. She smiles a lot and I like that.

Dinner

2008-03-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Wild hunted deer steaks and too much wine were on the menu.

Looking For Home

2008-03-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is a set from Sunday. There's a description of the set on the flickr site and it makes sense, once again, to view the set using the flickr slide show option. See it here.

Going Home

2008-03-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

This track is in a field behind the house where I grew up in Ontario. The track wasn't there when I lived there but I like that it's there now. I only have a road bike at hand when I visit this track so I haven't ridden it but I believe my father has ridden my mother's 8spd cruiser a full lap. Perhaps this summer I'll do the same if I find myself at home again.

Kitchens

2008-03-01T11:37:00.001-08:00

It's not even a particularly good photograph, but there's something of a voyeuristic quality to it that I like.

Old Habits

2008-02-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

The first photograph I took of this apartment building was about ten years ago the first time I lived in Vancouver. I recently revisited it for my last project which can be seen here:

My Daily Image 151

I think it's the architect in me that keeps me coming back to this building. It exists in a fairly populous part of Vancouver against a typography of development almost like a case study for a different model of urbanity. I don't think this design would be effective if propagated ad infinitum but it's somehow inoffensive in its uniqueness. So here it is again. I think this one captures the building better than the last one. The ivy creeping up the wall is much more apparent in this image and despite the trademark green of the building it looks better in black and white.

Longing shots

2008-02-17T16:45:00.001-08:00

Two of a similar theme but the tone is too different to be of the same set. The ironing board one makes me smile.