Ottawa Visit

Hugh and I just came back from a trip to Ottawa, our Nations Capitol. Neither of us had been there as adults other then for me a quick excursion to the Ikea store and market while I was living in Kingston. The vacation was a bit of a last minute plan, and included a quick stop in Kingston, and many, many hours of back road driving through Ontario's countryside, small towns and villages.

My goal was to not only relax and enjoy the vacation, but to also take my camera and add to my collection of black and white architectural details series. For those that don't know, I sell this series in the shop I work at in Summerhill (Toronto). In the back corner is my little collection wall of framed and unframed black and white shots. They do very well for me, and so I wanted to broaden my collection.

I was not disappointed in the amount of details to capture, and came home with over 500 photos to edit. The majority of the series came from the Parliament Buildings and surrounding area. The predominant style of architecture (excluding modern architecture) is High Victorian Gothic Revival. Arches, points, ironwork, grotesques, gargoyles,and rough stone make up the majority of the buildings around Parliament Hill. There are also some stunning Art Deco buildings, and other Victorian styles to be found. Not to mention, there are references to the Queen and Crown everywhere.

Ottawa is a very walkable city, picturesque, and clean. I am sure it would look equally stunning during the annual tulip fest, autumn, and even during the winter under a blanket of snow. Here is a collection of shots taken while there....... enjoy.

p.s. The sun was very intense during the two days, so some of the shots were blown out or overexposed, but better to take the shot then not. :)

Stone Garden..

Have you noticed that I keep re-visiting some of my old and favorite themes? I've mentioned numerous times how nostalgia plays a large part of my life, so it is no surprise that it also plays a part in my photographic themes.

Architecture. The very first subject I used to photograph using my point and shoot camera, and the subject I think I most love. Well... today anyways. Tomorrow it will likely be trees, or abstract colour, pattern and textures. The point is, I have my favorites and I find great comfort in going back and capturing these subjects a second, third, or more times. Each time I notice I shoot less, but think about the shot more. You may not be able to notice a difference. I notice it more when I am doing post edits. There seems to be less edits, cropping, or even discarding. I guess that just means I'm perhaps being more picky, and possibly learning a few things along the way.

So with a recent day off I headed to Mount Pleasant Cemetery to focus on architecture and statuary details. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

"The Drama of Objects"

 (I confess I am playing catch up with some of my posts!)

 

 

In August of 2011, I attended the Art Gallery of Ontario's exhibition "Abstract Expressionism" and while I knew there would be painting and sculpture to view, I was not prepared to see photography. I don't think one thinks of photography when they think of the Abstract Expressionism period.

Needless to say, I was stopped in my tracks when I came across the works of Aaron Siskind. (1903-1991) Siskind, like myself began his foray into photography at a later age. He was given a camera in 1930 as a wedding gift, and began taking photos on his honeymoon.

In the early 1940's he increasingly started creating abstract photos of forgotten and discarded items, facades, graffiti,and isolated figures. Like myself, he was drawn to the things that are abstract in our environment, lines, shapes and texture.

 

A major difference of course is that he was using black and white film, where as today I am using a digital camera. In his 1945 essay "The Drama of Objects" he asked the viewer when looking at his work to "Move on objects with your eye straight on, to the left, around to the right. Watch them grow large as you approach, group and regroup themselves as you shift your position. Relationships gradually emerge and sometimes assume themselves with finality. And that's your picture."

I was inspired to once again go back to my earliest group of photographs that were taken at a time when I had done little research or exposure to any of the 'greats' and was just learning the ins and outs of my camera. I then took it one step further, and keeping in mind his quote from the essay, removed all the colour from my images so that it is only the texture, lines, and patterns that you now see.

I was immediately taken back by how much the colour had played into my original emotional reading of the photograph, and now I have to re look, re think about these images taken from the streets of Toronto. At first glance, one might overlook them and write them off as boring. But if you do as Siskind asks and approach the images from different viewing points, you may find that the image becomes more layered in emotions.

Finally, I want to end these notes with another quote from the Abstract Expressionist painter Adolph Gottlier:

" I frequently hear the question "What do these pictures mean?" That is simply the wrong question. Visual images do not have to conform to either verbal thinking, or optical facts. A better question would be "Do these images convey any emotional truth?"

 

***The last three abstract photos are Siskands.***