Before there were germs, there was miasma. Bad air. Billows rolling off the bogs and fens. The stench of swamp gas. The rot of ferns and trees fallen to decay in stagnant pools. Fetid. Rancid. Odoriferous.
Tag: Street Photography
Toronto Photo Walk In Mid-November
Oddly enough, successful street photography is a bit like catching a virus. I say this because, as with catching a virus, street photography requires a lot of exposure. Not camera sensor exposure, but exposure to people interacting in public places.
The Colour Yellow
If the colour yellow was an animal, it would be a cat. It simply is and doesn’t care what you think. It bursts in upon your world whether you like it or not.
tl;dr
Too long; didn’t read. Like LOL when Facebook became a thing, TL;DR is a viral acronym that has taken on a sudden relevance. Once an occasional rat scampering from a sinking mass of text, now the TLDR rodent is everywhere. Typically, it’s offered as a complaint about the length of a text, but its resurgence…
Wear A Face Covering
I used to think masks were for badasses, protesters during the G20 summit who didn’t want to get ID’d by police, or graffiti artists trying to hide from surveillance cameras. Now, masks are what sensible people wear, like Birkenstocks or sunscreen.
Covid-19: Before and After
My understanding is that Karens throughout the American South still assert the right to go maskless. Presumably street photography in places like Houston and Tallahassee has not yet assumed an after-time look. That might change once all the Karens have died…
Toronto Pride 2020
Thanks to Covid-19, all major Pride events in Toronto (at least those requiring a city permit) have been cancelled. Like the rest of the world, Pride Toronto has gone virtual.
Retail’s Sudden Demand for Plywood
The history of Toronto retail in 2020 will be framed in terms of carpentry (forgive the pun). A threat appears and the immediate response is to cover all the windows with plywood to keep marauding hoards from smashing things.
Matthew Hayley #MentalHealthIsVisible
It was strange going out with my camera this morning. I feel like a bear crawling out from hibernation. The light seems too bright. And, god, I’m hungry.
Sleeping Rough in the Time of Covid-19
It’s easy to overlook the possibility that medical guidance is entrenched within or is an expression of middle-class values. But those things we expect of people—self-isolation, social distancing, masks, hand-washing—are not possible for many people.
Covid-19, God, and Aliens
The longer I listened to him, the more I felt like Woody Allen talking to Annie Hall’s younger brother (Christopher Walken) at the family dinner when he cut him off and said: “I’m due back on the planet Earth.”
Pale Fire
If the scene suggests a story, it isn’t for me to advance it; that task falls to the viewer. My work was done the instant I released the shutter.
Bathed In Luxury
Bathed In Luxury. This is the tagline of a new condominium residence and hotel under construction on Bloor Street East. I struggle with the word luxury. I struggle with the way it’s used.
Another Vivid Covid-19 Dream
Douglas Coupland announced that his pet dog had died of Covid-19. I was a reporter at the presser and smirked when he started to cry. Other reporters scowled at me and accused me of being heartless and insensitive.
A Photographer Dreams in Lockdown
I went to work and my boss told me I’d have to start working from home. I said I was happy to go along with the new rules, but I did have one question: how do spies work from home?