“Light” was my word for 2014. It’s an ideal word to guide you when you love to make photographs. And it has moved me in directions I’m very glad to have explored.
But there is so much more to the word than that. When times are dark, we all look for light. As we approach the winter solstice, I leave you with a meditation by a favourite poet, Mary Oliver.
I have farther to go with this exploration of “light.” Perhaps we all do…
I’m not one of those people who gets all excited by the world’s biggest this or that — the tallest building, the hugest cruise ship, yadda yadda.
I’ve always been more inclined toward the “small is beautiful” mentality. So I was totally charmed when driving along Highway 503 about 100 miles northeast of Toronto (near Kinmount, Ontario) one day a few weeks ago, I saw a sign for “the world’s smallest bookshop”!
I had to stop and check this out. Not only is it teeny tiny (10 by 10 feet), but it’s open 24 hours a day, and has no staff. All books are $3 and it’s totally operated on the honour system. What a little gem!
I didn’t have much time to take photos since we were on a mission to buy a dinghy in Midland, Ontario and we had a 10-hour drive to cover. But I managed to snap a few before jumping back into the truck.
Evidently I was not the only one who was delighted to find such a sweet little place in the countryside, because there were lots of appreciative notes pinned up all over the place.
I found out later it is a labour of love on the part of Gord and June Daniels. I wish I had time to meet them, but perhaps next time. I know I’ll be back.
A handout available at the shop reads:
Why I love Books
1) Books are silent.
2) Books do not require hydro.
3) Books do not interrupt.
4) Books open easily — no switches or remotes.
5) Books can be shut up easily anytime.
6) Books cannot be offended.
7) Books do not talk back.
8) Books do not demand T.L.C. — but get it anyway.
9) Books do not require food or water.
10) Books will not feel neglected.
11) Books will not send you on a guilt trip if you lose interest or ignore them.
12) Books never require medical attention.
13) Books do not have commercials.
14) A book does not go into a snit if you look at another book.
15) A book won’t mind if you are reading more than book at a time.
Under Bethesda Terrace
One of the things I love most about New York is the energy and movement. Walking, cycling (if you’re insane), driving (if you’re insane), riding buses, subways, taxis and carriages — even sailing — people around you are always going somewhere. And if you only have a few days, you want to be going somewhere — everywhere — too!
Laid out on a grid system, New York is one of the easiest large cities in the world to get around in. We generally walk, and walk and then walk some more. But I’ve also figured out how to get to places like Brooklyn and the Cloisters way north near Harlem by subway and bus without too much trouble.
And here’s what happens when you stop for a moment to figure out where you are and where you’re going next — a New Yorker stops to ask if they can help you find something.
It happened twice this trip and it’s happened every single time I’ve travelled to New York previously — all 11 or 12 trips!
I agree with Bill Murray:
This time a kind woman approached us in Central Park as we were finishing up our photography for the day. And a sweet male cyclist came up to us as we were stopped in Times Square looking at the Jumbotron.
Yes, New Yorkers are always moving, but some do take time to stop to help travellers.
I just returned from a rejuvenating trip to New York City. I love that city with an inexplicable passion, and have ever since I first travelled there in the early 80’s. And it’s a feeling that has come back each of the 12 or 13 times since then.
I went this time, for many reasons, but partly to make images. In every location we visited, others were taking pictures too. Now, many of these pics were no doubt travel snapshots and the ubiquitous selfies that are taken to prove to friends you went somewhere…
But I think the urge to photograph New York goes deeper than that. Everywhere you look in New York, there is so much visual richness and energy. I am convinced that visitors reach for their cameras and phones in an effort (not always totally conscious) to try to capture and take home some of the beauty and awe they experience.
At least I know I do.
This was taken in the magnificent Astor Hall of the New York Public Library.
Not too far away from us is a gem of an Ontario Provincial Park called Bon Echo.
We headed that way recently to visit some friends who have a cottage on Upper Mazinaw Lake, right next to the park.
The southeastern shore of the lake features the massive 100 m (330 ft) high Mazinaw Rock, an escarpment rising out of the water, adorned with some 260 Aboriginal pictographs, the largest collection in Canada.
I had heard of these and was quite excited to have the chance to see them for myself.
The cottage can be reached only by boat so we arranged a time to meet and be picked up at the dock.
Our host was kind enough to take us for an up-close tour of the Rock by boat, which is the only way you can really see the pictographs well.
The rock art paintings are spread out over 65 rock faces along a 2.5 metre stretch of the cliff face and the pictographs are extremely complex and abstract.
The Mazinaw pictographs were designated a national historic site of Canada in 1982 and have been researched since 1895. This is the largest rock art site on the southern Canadian Shield and the only major pictograph site in southern Ontario. Pictographs have also been found in northern Ontario.
At 145 metres deep (476 feet) this lake is the second deepest in the province and the Rock goes down 100 metres into the lake.
The whole area is wonderful for canoeing, kayaking, camping, hiking, climbing and all manner of outdoor activities. The park even has yurts for people who want a slightly more comfy camping experience.
It seems inexplicable that there are trees growing on the side of the Rock, but some of them are said to be 1,000 years old.
Bon Echo is French for “good echo.” The rock is responsible for the large echo that is unmistakable during thunderstorms and fireworks displays.
Morning…
I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my beautiful garden, and I go, ‘Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it.’
Jim Carrey
“Little” pony, Almonte
Under every full moon, memories stir of the dreamers we were.
Robert Brault.
I began seeing line and shape in a highly graphic way, and gained an appreciation for the dramatic effects of light and shadow on form. One of the unique properties of photography is its spontaneity, its ability to capture a transient moment. A moment of discovery becomes a moment of rediscovery when the subject is viewed through the lens. In this way photography becomes a simultaneous act of intuition, feeling and recording.
Richard Martin
Sherrygaley.com 