These roads near my home are so familiar to me. I know them like a friend, having traveled them literally thousands of times. Every corner, every dip and hill, every bump remains in my memory. Most of my childhood dreams were set on these roads, so at many places I could recall a dream. It’s a pleasure to photograph them in all seasons, under different lighting conditions, and at all times of day. I usually do this when I’m alone as it can annoy family members–“you’re getting out of the car again?”
These road photos are usually taken when there are few cars on the road and taken at spots where it is safe and convenient to pull over. And I have my favourite spots that I photograph again and again. My wife sometimes remarks that I have taken that same shot a hundred times. She’s right, in a sense. But there are subtle things like light and colour that can make the same scene look unique in a photo.
Roads are powerful metaphors. We each travel our own road in life and no one else can live it for us. These images are like little poems from Hants County, Nova Scotia, stops along the road.
Hi! If you’re new here, my name is Avard Woolaver, and I’m a photographer based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Many of you have probably found this website from my one of my social media platforms. I’ve recently stopped posting photos on Instagram but hope to spend more time posting on this site. So here’s an introduction to my work!
A lot of the people who follow me are especially interested in my Toronto photos, taken mostly during the 1980s. (The above photo, previously unpublished, is an example.) I did a lot of street photography and urban landscapes during and after my photography studies at Ryerson University. The negatives sat sorted in files on a bookcase for thirty years before I started scanning them in 2016. The photos are very nostalgic for me–a blast from the past.
One of my main interests is New Topographics–the human-altered landscape. With the rapid advance of the climate emergency, our mismanagement of the environment is becoming more central to my work. I want my photos to be visually interesting, but also carry a message.
Another one of my interests deals with visual perception. My Wish You Were Here series aims to challenge the viewers’ attention in a subtle way by finding everyday scenes with elements of whimsy and surrealism. Emulating artists like Rene Magritte and Lee Friedlander, I want to make the familiar seem a little strange, but without Photoshop or image manipulation. These photos come about through observation, using juxtaposition, reflection, typography, and scale.
My travels have taken me various places in the world. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I worked in Japan, which gave me a chance to visit southeast Asia. Travel photography is exciting because nearly everything is new and interesting, and you may never be in that place again.
Along with photographing the unfamiliar, I do a lot of revisiting familiar scenes during different times and seasons. A familiar scene can seem so changed under different lighting conditions. I pass the scene below on a daily basis and have photographed it numerous times. It never gets old.
Finally, I like doing self-portraits, and also incorporating humour in my photos when I can. I saw some Lee Friedlander self-portraits when I first got a camera, and they made a lasting impression.
With the winter season upon us and frigid temperatures outside, it’s nice to remember summer and those hot sunny days at the beach. I choose to remember summer with this photo of Cherry Beach in Toronto, taken in 1982. Sooner than we know it, it will be here.
I took this photo in 1981, in an alleyway in the east end of Toronto. A lot has changed since then including the slogan on Ontario license plates. This one says “Keep It Beautiful,” which was the slogan from 1973-1982. Since 1982 it has been “Yours to Discover.” With Ontario’s current high debt, and a climate change crisis underway, I think a more appropriate slogan should be: “Ontario – Make It Sustainable.”
The car is a 1965 Chevrolet Impala station wagon, purchased from Robertson Motors (Chev/Olds) – Coxwell and Danforth. The dealership, car, and plate are probably long gone now. Yes, a lot has changed, but with government policy and forward thinking, I hope we can enjoy a sustainable future.
High angle photography has always interested me. You get a different perspective with a bird’s eye view of the world. High angle shots have been used as a technique in cinema to create drama and make the subject seem weak or vulnerable. Or, as a wide shot to establish the scene.
In my younger days living in Toronto, I used to climb fire escapes to get a different view of the streets and architecture. These days, I take fewer risks, but I still look for high angle locations. The photo above was taken from the reading room at the Halifax Central Library. It’s a fifth floor cantilever that juts out over the entrance and provides and great view of the nearby intersection.
