10-2-21

10-2-20

10-2-19

I got to drive this Land Rover. It's heavy and geared too low for the highway and rickety as all get out but it's incredibly fun to drive and can take a thorough beating without blinking. I don't need one but I really want one.

10-2-18

Even if it's a bit early for Vancouver it's mid February and the cherry trees are blossoming. Amazing.

10-2-17

10-2-16

10-2-15

As I was taking this photograph this morning a woman walked up to me and said, "I hope you don't think that's cool." It progressed to a heated discussion about there being an elementary school up the street and how the word "fuck " wasn't appropriate for the context. The whole thing is within a few blocks of Main and Hastings where drug dealing runs rampant, people shoot heroin in plain sight on the street, prostitutes exist in droves, and yet the word "fuck" was somehow the most offensive element of the context for this person who approached me. Well, second most offensive, she seemed more concerned about my taking a picture of the billboard, enough so to change her trajectory and interrupt mine.

I like the Olympics. Sort of. I think the whole thing needs a reality check. Too much money goes into a world wide "Play Day" for my liking but at the same time the spirit of human accomplishment is enlightening and motivational. When lives are risked and lost the merits of the events come into question but still, it's the best hockey the world gets to see (with less fights too) and it's pretty impressive to see someone navigate sheets of ice at 140kph.

My disdain for my critic was quickly attributed to the Vancouver context. I've never been so challenged in my day to day existence as I have been here. It makes me want to get a t-shirt that says in bold capitals "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS." First there was the person that slowed her car to remind me that I should be wearing a helmet on my bike. Then there was the person who felt it very important to let me know that my daughter was walking too close to the road where there were dangerous cars waiting to run her down. And then there was the person who pulled up to me as I was riding my bike to tell me I should have a light on my kid bike trailer (I had two lights on my bike, reflective piping on my jacket and the bag on my back had reflective fabric on it too, and the trailer is covered in reflective paint, and there was a light on the trailer that happened to be low on batteries, said light being replaced within a couple of days with a working, functional model) Fair enough, I didn't have a glowing light on the trailer but I did stand 20 feet behind the trailer to see if my bike's lights were visible before setting out on my trip (they were) but still I was left defending my position in this society.

I questioned someone who was born in this city, I asked, "do you get challenged for 'being' in this city? Do you get people intervening and criticizing who you are and what you do? Randomly like?" Or something like that, those probably weren't the exact words despite my use of quotation marks. She swore I was being selective, that she had similar interventions in Calgary and Toronto, and that my disdain for Vancouver was clouding my judgement. Maybe she's right. But I genuinely don't ever remember anyone coming up to me in Calgary or Toronto and questioning any basic tenet of my being in those cities (and I hate Calgary much more than Vancouver so bias should be prevalent there as well) but I would never doubt her experiences in those cities.

I don't particularly like today's photograph. It's mostly my interaction with a Vancouver resident that has lent it some importance in my life. There may only be five or six people who look at these photos on this blog on any given day but still, it was important to me to put this photo up today. Not because I thought it was cool, but because I thought the reaction of some random Vancouverite was so lame.

Addendum: In the back of my mind I wondered how efficiently the Olympic machine would clean the statement off the billboard. Well, below is the same billboard the very next day. It would seem they are very protective of their image.

10-2-14

10-2-13

10-2-12

There she was, glowing in the twilight and longing for a long and open road through the desert dotted with the odd gas station that sells beer in singles and food under heat lamps. I wanted to rescue her.

10-2-11

I was fetching a coffee from the kitchen when the noise on the street was heard. Whoops and hollers, the thumping of bass, horns honking. I opened the front door to find the intersection being controlled by a throng of police, a caravan of Olympic sponsor vehicles, and a gathering crowd of people along the street. Standing across from the house was a girl holding an unlit Olympic torch looking down the street in anticipation. And then he was there, surrounded by a new group of men in black with suspicious bulges in their running gear, a man carrying a lit Olympic torch.

I won't pretend to be super enthusiastic about the Olympics. It has its issues with cost overruns being propped up by the taxpayers. And the corporate infiltration of the competition is offensive but it's hard to be too critical of that AND get upset about the cost since one is offset by the other. I am looking forward to watching the hockey, Olympic hockey is some of the most exciting to watch. Despite my apprehensions surrounding the games it's moments like this one, the torch run, where the torch is modestly carried carried by my home (modestly in the sense that it's not Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying it through a barriered road way, there is still an intimidation factor embodied in the Men in Black) that remind me if you look at the core of it all, the competition of the world's best athletes in a grand sporting event, it's really exciting. I wish I could afford tickets to see some of the events and I wish that some of the money spent on this spectacle could have been spent on social housing or health care or arts funding or education or day care subsidies. I wish there was an easy answer.

10-2-10

My good friend Johann had an opening tonight. He's the one in the middle like a rock star greeting his adoring fans.

10-2-9

The days are rare when I feel so conflicted about what picture to post. There was another image that I though for certain would be the photograph for today but after spending some time with this one the choice was easy. As a photographer it's easy to be your own hardest critic but there's something about this photograph I really enjoy. Almost every photograph on this blog is full frame and hand held. I've had a tripod for years but I just bought a real one, a good one, and I used it for this photograph. And it's a photograph that makes me happier than a lot of the ones I've taken recently. Don't get me wrong, I like the photographs I take, why else would I be here? but this one... somehow it's special. And so banal at the same time.

10-2-8

This one doesn't make me happy. It doesn't capture the starkness and honesty of the place. It's one of the few restaurants open late in the drug addled DTES of Vancouver and I try to eat there when I can. "Roast pork with rice? Maybe some bok choy?" That's as close to a menu as I've ever seen in this place. I've had the barbeque before too. It's really good but usually all gone by the time I find them. It's not a great restaurant but I like it for its honesty and lack of pretension. And the food is not bad and quite affordable.

10-2-7

10-2-6

10-2-5

10-2-4

10-2-3

I didn't wake up one day thinking I should grow a beard. I mostly woke up one day without a reason to shave. And that's where I am today. I'm pretty sure the beard's days are numbered.

10-2-2

10-2-1

10-1-31

10-1-30

10-1-29

If I were to be completely honest I might wish she was a cycling prodigy, racing around on 2 wheelers, an adventurer, confident and fearless. Reality is she's pretty cautious on the bike and I'm okay with that. I'm pretty much okay with anything she does.

10-1-28

New little camera. My delightful LX3 is no longer mine. It was a wonderful little device but for a "little" camera it was a little bit big and the lens cap bothered me. Those are dumb things to let bother me because, well, it was actually a pretty small camera and it took really great photographs. But still, the lens cap, it was a deal breaker in the end. I'd still recommend an LX3 for most people, it's a better camera than most. For me, my new Canon S90 is a beautiful thing. It's smaller than the LX3 and takes pretty amazing photographs. My biggest beef is the format. I really liked the 16X9 aspect ratio of the LX3. It just seemed so "right." The S90 shoots naturally in a 4X3 aspect ratio. It looks so foreign to me. I suppose I could crop but it's probably worth mentioning again that I do my best to not crop anything. It's probably a pretty good gues that 99% of what is on here is compositionally straight out of the camera. I work with the format I'm presented with in the camera. It seems more spiritual for me that way.

That being said, when I put the S90 into the case that used to cart my LX3 around and I felt it rattling around in its spacious confines I smiled a bit. It's so tiny. And it also take amazing photographs. It's just as good as the LX3 in low light. And no lens cap.

The picture? Huh. I'm not usually so distracted by the machines and more concerned about the results. A door bell vs. a security pad. And a grubbiness that betrays the age of both. I suppose that's all I need to say.

10-1-27

Vancouver houses have been an ongoing theme here. I'll talk more about that one day soon, I'm still finding the words.

10-1-26

10-1-25

10-1-24

Portrait #57

10-1-23

10-1-22

Don't think of a white elephant.

10-1-21

Sunny days. Stolen moments.

10-1-20

It's like a still life. It's so contrived yet so natural. Such protection of an object combined with such vulnerability. and futility.

10-1-19

10-1-13

When I had the bike shops there would be times when I would take off momentarily to fetch lunch or beer or whatever and these little "back in 5" signs would get made from time to time, sketched on the back of work orders, envelope scraps, whatever. Sometimes I would return to find someone waiting, sometimes I'm sure people would see the sign and say, "yeah, right" and just move on. It's been over a year since I've written one of those little signs but they look exactly like this one does. It's spooky how similar they look, how normal it was to write this one. But that's where I'm at.

I like taking photographs every day, the taking of the photographs is often the much needed "back in 5" of my day but for the last couple of weeks it's felt forced, I'm distracting by other things, or the lack of other things, and I need a bit of time to run out, grab a bite to eat, collect my thoughts, rescale, but I'll be back in 5. Days? Weeks? Months? Not sure yet. At the moment I'm thinking days but we'll see how I feel after four. Thank you.

10-1-12

10-1-11

10-1-10

10-1-9

10-1-8

Those who know me will think I complain about Vancouver a lot. It's partially true, I do really dislike this city for a number of reasons, most of which are socio-economically based, i.e. it's expensive to live here, wages are very low, there's a lot of crime as a result, good businesses and people are regularly "reno-victed" by greedy landlords, and generally speaking a lot of people in this city seem really absorbed in a lifestyle, more concerned about the brand of outdoor clothing being worn and less concerned about getting into the mountains to stress that clothing. But I've been paying attention to this lately, where the bitterness comes from, and don't get me wrong, I hate this city on a lot of levels, but I also like it too. I've done my best to bury my disdain and focus on the good things (it's January and I haven't had any concerns about studded bicycle tires and I've finally found a shop in town that sells excellent coffee beans, even if that coffee is imported from Chicago and that shop is half way across town which I don't mind riding to because, like I said, no studded tires) and oddly enough the bitterness towards Vancouver comes up again and again amongst those around me.

I had dinner with some really great people tonight and one of the good friends jokingly said I wasn't allowed to come if I was going to complain about Vancouver and I jokingly said, "what's to complain about?" but I made a point to myself that I was going to focus on the positive and just enjoy being among friends but still, the conversations about Vancouver being a less than ideal place to live came up, the bitterness about the gentrification going on in the downtown east side, an anger regarding how many millions were being spent on a glorified play day for adults (the Olympics), it all came up through normal conversation. I'm okay with that, the only way you can facilitate change is through discourse and if nothing was being said then I'd be sadder because I would feel I was the only one noticing and that would suggest I was wrong. I realize I'm wrong about a lot of things and I'm okay with that. I really do accept that the majority of people on this planet want something I don't like. Christ, I watched an episode of The Jersey Shore on the internet the other night and if there was ever proof that I am on the wrong planet that was it.

But I digress.

And I usually have an idea of what I'm going to write before I start and today I don't so I'm not sure where I'm going with this so bare with me.

I will always dislike this city because it genuinely is a mediocre city with lots of issues and flaws and that won't change any time soon. But I've managed to find some really great people to be with here. Some (too many) are, sadly, moving away, some aren't quite here yet but they get here soon. On this night I got to eat, drink, and be merry with a few of them and I'm glad I got a photograph of it.

10-1-7

...I can't imagine a better reason... or any other reason..

10-1-6

...and you thought i took photographs because i didn't know how to draw...

10-1-5

This is the only photograph I took all day (so far).

10-1-4

10-1-3

I see them on side streets and in alleyways. Sometimes downtown in the heart of it all. There's three or four of them, almost like a miniature subdivision, all lined up on a short dead end street in the industrial park between my house and where I work. It's romantic in some ways, the idea of knowing you live somewhere and everywhere at the same time. Perhaps I should start shopping for a school bus.

10-1-2

10-1-1

Happy New Year...

09-12-31

09-15-30

Johann and Fatty.