Abandoned cars used to be a common sight in Toronto in the 1980s. It’s something we no longer see. The graffiti, however, is still prevalent.
Category: <span>Photography</span>
These tire burnouts are becoming more common on Nova Scotia roads. My father called them “fool’s signatures”; I call them redneck art. I’ve never been a fan of graffiti, and have similar feelings about tire burnouts. I understand the need for people to express themselves, but don’t understand the waste of money and resources. Also, I’ve never seen the need to deface buildings and roads. What’s the point?
On the other hand, they sometimes have charming designs, and to quote Crocodile Dundee: “Ah, it’s just kids out havin’ fun.” There seems to be no putting the genie back in the bottle–graffiti and tire burnouts are here to stay.
I photograph things like this because they are cultural phenomena and I have an interest in the human-altered landscape. Tire burnouts tell us a lot about the times we are living in.
This photo was taken in Toronto on a cold February day in 1985. The billboard reads, “Spain: Set your spirit free. Say Si.” In the winter months Canadians are attracted by the lure of warmer weather. It seems that most folks head to Florida, or the Caribbean, but Spain sounds good, also! How does that song go? Catalonia dreaming, on such a winter’s day.
One of my favourite photographers here on social media is from Catalonia, Spain. His name is Llorenç Rosanes Mulet and he lives in the town of Alcarràs. Check out his amazing work on Instagram. His social landscape photos often have beautiful warm light and the tones he achieves in his black and white photos is sublime. There is so much humanity in his work. I hope to meet him someday. Big shout out to my buddy Llorenç!
When I first arrived in Toronto, I took a few photos with a twin lens reflex camera, a Yashica Mat-124G. Looking back at these photos, I wish I had used this camera more often. The twin lens reflex is an ideal camera for street photography, as the camera is held at waist level and you look down into the viewfinder to frame the photo. The negatives are large and crisp, but there are only 12 exposures on a roll. Perhaps this is the reason it was abandoned in favour of the 35mm SLR.
This photo is now on Flickr’s “Explore.” Every day, the Explore page is updated with the most popular photos on Flickr as chosen by an algorithm. Probably based on how many people view the photo, comments on the photo, faves, etc. Once and awhile one of my photos appears on this page.
I like to spend a little time each day training the algorithms (insert wink emoji here)!