Most years, we think of November as cold and dreary. We don’t need meteorological records to confirm our assumptions about November; we can read what poets and novelists have written.
Author: David Barker
Fly Fishing in the Maitland River
On Sunday morning, we went to the Falls Reserve Conservation Area in the village of Benmiller. We assumed we would see some lovely waterfalls or rapids on the Maitland River as it flows to Goderich and out into Lake Huron.
New Graffiti Under St. Clair St. Bridge
An earlier post on graffiti under the St. Clair St. bridge is now officially an archival document. The original subject matter no longer exists, so the only record of it is in photographs like mine. The city’s anti-graffiti people have grey-washed the concrete footings on the east side of the St. Clair St. Bridge.
Why did I shoot yet another fucking cliché?
This morning my alarm went off at 5:00. I remember setting it last night. My night self was pulling a prank on my morning self. My night self told my morning self that getting up at 5:00 is good for you. That’s when you get all the good shots. Plus: getting up is good for body and soul. Think of Benjamin Franklin: healthy, wealthy and wise.
Scaffolding
Although scaffolding sites are temporary, and shift dynamically across the face of the city, the fact of scaffolding itself is a permanent feature of modern city life. Forgive the oxymoron, but scaffolding is an ephemeral permanency.
The Long Shot
Sometimes I like to photograph people from a distance, using a white or light-coloured wall as a backdrop. One challenge in a city is finding a wall that isn’t obscured by building shadows during the sweet light times of day.
A Killing Frost
On Monday morning, I sat in the dark on the north side of the Brickworks quarry, sipping from a thermos of hot coffee, and watched the light from the rising sun spread across the city. (Note to self for future project: this sight deserves a time-lapse video.) As the light changed from complete darkness to deep blue, I saw that all the golden rods and grasses at the bottom of the quarry were covered in a silvery frost.
Trudeaumania
Congratulations to Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals for their stunning election victory last night. To celebrate the ouster of King Stephen, I offer a bit of nostalgia: some photos I took of Justin’s father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. I think it was during the 1979 election campaign.
Fall Colours In Yellow Creek
If I were a nature photographer, I’d be out driving through the countryside to view the fall colours. Maybe I’d stay at a hotel in Haliburton so I could be up early to catch the sweet light. But I live in the city and I’m too lazy to plan a big weekend in the countryside.
Getting Made
Getting Made is that magic moment when you discover that despite your best efforts to maintain your cover as you photograph in the street, the people in your frame know exactly what you’re doing.
The Original Street Art
Before there were graffiti artists, there were civil engineers. At least that’s a theory of mine. For years now, Toronto has been in the grips of a construction boom and, before anybody breaks ground, teams of surveyors and engineers spray paint lines all over the pavement. The streets become canvasses for a kind of urban development graffiti.
The Breitling Bombshell
The Swiss watch manufacturer, Breitling, has opened its official Canadian distribution headquarters at 250 Bloor St. E. I wouldn’t have noticed except for the bombshell sitting in the front window and blazing red in the late afternoon sunlight. They’ve propped up a life-sized, or somewhat (ahem) larger-than-life, mannikin of a blond woman in a red dress and riding a bombshell in much the same way as Slim Pickens rode the H-bomb to his doom in Dr. Strangelove.
More Skateboards
Shooting skateboarders is like shooting wildlife (or small children): they don’t sit still and pose. If you’re lucky, they’ll stop at an intersection.
Integral House
You wouldn’t think a solid grounding in calculus could make someone rich, but in the case of mathematician, James Stewart, his textbooks for high school and university students made him rich beyond imagining.
Street Art In Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay has a vibe that reminds me of Victoria. There are a lot of young people, especially the sort of young people who don’t hang out at Conservative Party conventions. They live counter cultural values, buy local, vote Green. And express themselves accordingly …