I want to wish you all Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings. Best Wishes to all those who follow me on social media. I hope you can kick back and enjoy the holiday season.
I’ll share a music video by the lovely Meaghan Smith–her rendition of Silver Bells. It was filmed at the skating rink in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, a place that is near and dear to me.
Today is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere–when the sun is at is maximum tilt away from the sun. It’s the shortest day of the year, and the longest night. There are many festivals and rituals all around the world to celebrate the solstice. Stonehenge comes to mind. My favourite is in Japan, where there is a custom to soak oneself in the yuzu (citrus fruit) hot bath.
It’s a good time of year to go out for a walk and enjoy the changing of the season. And if you’re like me, you’ll end up taking a few photos along the way.
Sometimes I take photos using car headlights as illumination. It creates a suspenseful mood and works well in snowy conditions. With this photo, I brightened the lights to get maximum range. If you try this, just be sure to do it in a more secluded area so you don’t annoy other drivers.
Sometimes photos resemble paintings–whether it’s the lighting, the subject matter, or the mood. Some photographers recreate paintings as photographs like Laura Hofstadter with her self-portrait series. Also many painters use photographs as a reference when they paint.
I had always thought that this 1982 photograph of Elm Street in Toronto looked like a painting, but no painter came to mind. Then my social media friend Amy Dix suggested that it looked like something by English artist L.S. Lowry. I could immediately see the similarity.
The above photo was taken from the rooftop of Sam the Record Man–the iconic record store. These days it’s the location of The Ryerson Student Centre, an amazing creation of function and design. In 2018, I managed to get a photo of Elm street through a window, maybe on the 4th floor. It’s great to compare the old with the new, and see the changes over the past 36 years.
Elm Street at Yonge (looking west), Toronto, 1982, appears in the book Toronto Flashback (1980-1986) and is available through Blurb Books.
Photographers are drawn to light like moths to a flame. It’s the key ingredient in many good photos. This photo shows my favourite type–bright winter light overhead, illuminating wet pavement. I love the silver glow and the high contrast–it looks great in black and white.
The photo is taken in the style of American photographer Lee Friedlander who welcomes foreground obstructions such as poles and trees as a way of creating visual interest. He explains, “Somebody else could walk two feet away to get those poles and tress and other stuff out of the way, I almost walk two feet to get into it, because it is a part of the game that I play. It isn’t even conscious; I probably just drift into it… its like a found pleasure. You’ve found something that you like and you play with it for the rest of your life.”
Friedlander also loves sunlight so much that he often doesn’t shoot outside on overcast days; he doesn’t want to take lifeless photos. As for me, I welcome all kinds of lighting conditions but am always on the lookout for my favourite light.