Category: Place & Space
-
360° of Franc van Oort (Pt. 1)
For the two years I attended trade school at Algonquin College, Perth became my second home. Between classes I photographed the countryside, explored abandoned buildings, foraged in antique shops and became a regular visitor to Riverguild’s mezzanine, concocting a mental list of the works I would buy from artist Franc van Oort when I’d finished spending money on my greedy old… Read more
-
360° of Franc van Oort (Pt. 2)
Note: There is now a Part 1 which can be found here. Don’t go looking for Part 1 of this piece because it has yet to be written. I am exercising my right to choose the cadence and order of storytelling; here the order is immaterial except for the lack of a formal introduction of artist Franc van Oort, and… Read more
-
Fogo Island: Strange and Familiar
Not long after Newfoundland began to impress itself upon me through its stories, the epic story of Fogo Island and Zita Cobb emerged. Read more
-
On the Waterfront
While on the Canada Line from Vancouver to Richmond, B.C. I spied a sculpture on the skyline. One right and a quick left from our hotel and an old-school waterfront appeared, featuring a walking path and imaginative art installations. The photographic conditions were spectacular: warm, morning light, a fierce hoar frost embalming the rocks and vegetation, and not a breath of wind. I… Read more
-
Walking with Our Sisters
Over 1,181 native women and girls in Canada have been reported missing or have been murdered in the last 30 years. Many vanished without a trace, with inadequate inquiry into their disappearance or murders paid by the media, the general public, politicians and even law enforcement. This is a travesty of justice. ~ Walking With Our… Read more
-
What We Think We Want
When Eat, Pray, Love first came out and I got the big check, I bought a big house, a five-bedroom Victorian with a wraparound porch in this small town in New Jersey. I put a ton of money into making it really magnificent. I spent four years restoring it, putting in amazing gardens, a new kitchen and… Read more
-
24 Sussex Drive is Falling Down
Contrary to opinions offered by former tenants of the building, reality television stars, CBC listeners, and social media commentators, there is no single right answer to the question: What should become of the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive? In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the building is razed or retrofitted. Either way, there… Read more
-
A Zibi Kind of Day
Sunshine. Twenty degrees. Light breeze. Birdsong out-gunning any human distractions. Views to the Ottawa river. And wildflowers, vines, bushes and trees in bloom everywhere. It was just another perfect day shooting the Domtar lands as part of the Workers History Museum cataloguing project. While the industrial buildings remain the focus, Mother Nature with her natural green roofs, biodiverse ‘gardens’… Read more
-
Joyce Frances Devlin: Spring Show 2015
This afternoon I dragged my nose away from the grindstone long enough to bathe, swap my grubby work clothes for something more civilized and walk the short distance to Joyce Frances Devlin‘s home and studio. After the success of last year’s show, Joyce has been exhibiting her gorgeous new work over these past two weekends and the show remains… Read more
-
Walk for Reconciliation
Until last Sunday I’d never done this kind of thing before. By 3:45am I was driving through rainy blackness heading to the Sunrise Ceremony on Victoria Island, in the middle of the Ottawa river. The ceremony would mark the beginning of the close for the six-year-long Truth and Reconciliation Commission examining the effects of Indian residential schools… Read more