Monday, April 22, 2024

Impressionism and architecture

Hometown funhouse
Montreal, QC
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram


When we were in Montreal last summer, I managed to grab a bit of time for a photowalk around the downtown core. It had been decades since we moved away, but my wife and I were both born and raised here, and we spent years studying and working in the core.

As I wandered streets that unlocked long-dormant memories, I caught sight of Place Ville Marie - well, specifically, the main 1 PVM tower - whose white cruciform design has long defined this city’s skyline. The iconic building silently drew me toward it, and soon enough I was just a few blocks away, staring at its shimmering, ruler-straight surfaces.

I stood on a crumbling sidewalk for a while as I pondered how to best remember the moment. I’m weird like that, always thinking about the kinds of photos to accompany experiences I’ll want to revisit later.

Largely because of the challenges of shooting enormous buildings from crowded streets, it was difficult to compose directly. So while I churned some alternatives, I leaned against a wall and found myself staring at a rather wild-looking reflection.

It has a carnival funhouse kind of vibe, where realism takes a firm back seat in favour of something a little - okay, a lot - more cartoonish.

I’m strangely comfortable with the result, as it reflects (sorry) the realities of real-world photography; namely that none of this is ever about capturing reality at all. Rather, it’s about remembering what it felt like to be in the moment.

And if it looks a little weird in the process, well, that’s kinda the way the process is supposed to work.

More to come.

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