Here are my top ten photos of 2021. I didn’t stray far from home this past year, so most of the photos have a more rural feel. I looked for the usual suspects–good light, juxtapositions, unusual scenes. Most were taken with my iphone, and some with my DSLR. I often revisit locations throughout the year as the light and season can really affect the mood of the photo. Cheers! And all the best for 2022!
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Sometimes the big picture is elusive because of all the distractions before us. (Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees.) On the other hand, if infinity spreads outward to the stars and also inward into the smallest atoms of these trees, then the big picture doesn’t matter. It’s all a big picture.
An infinite universe exists in the bark of these trees, in our bodies, and in outer space. We can start anywhere. It doesn’t matter if we see the trees in the forest, or the forest within the trees.
This photo was taken on our annual family Thanksgiving walk at First Lake in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. A chance to do some forest bathing. I’m so grateful to be alive for this brief time on earth, and grateful for a wonderful family.
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.
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Here are some recent black and white photos, taken over the past few months. With these images, I revisit familiar themes of juxtaposition, societal symbols, isolation, humour, and the human-altered landscape. In the absence of colour, the photographs gain a level of abstraction; we must use our imagination in a sense to complete the picture. The tones and contrast of the black and white also serves to highlight the graphic elements.
Though I shoot mainly colour these days with a digital camera, monochrome takes me back to the 1980s when I shot tons of Tri-X and spent countless hours in the darkroom. I miss those days sometimes, but feel that I can much the same results with digital technology. For me, it’s what you see, and capture, that’s most important, whether it’s with film or digital; Leica or Brownie box camera.
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… I saw beauty and decay. The two kilometer walk was meditative and enjoyable and gave me a chance to see nature’s interaction with the human-made world. Skid mars like these are becoming more prominent on Nova Scotia roads. I’ve heard them called “redneck art” and fool’s signatures”–they seem both wasteful and unattractive. At the curve ahead is the 45th parallel–exactly half way between the equator and the north pole. I confirmed it with an app on my phone. There used to be a sign but it was taken down.
Grass growing up in the cracks, discarded cigarette butts, new paint barely covering the old. There has been a road paint shortage this year in Nova Scotia because of supply chain issues with the paint plants in Texas and Louisiana. It’s interesting how the business world relies on a myriad of connections, just like the natural world.
The cigarette butts in the previous photo are just the tip of the garbage iceberg. The shoulders and ditches along this scenic road are littered with trash–bottles, cans, coffee cups, fast food bags, CDs, toys, and much more. It seems that many have lost touch with the natural world and no longer respect it. Most of the cans and bottles once contained alcohol, meaning that plenty of folks are drinking and driving. It wouldn’t surprise me that the guy who made the skid marks threw this out shortly afterwards.
Animals get hit crossing the road, and it’s not unusual to see porcupines, raccoons, skunks, deer, birds, and turtles as victims of road-kill. There is no easy solution, but if people drove slower, it might happen less. And if they weren’t drinking and driving they might be better able to see the poor animals crossing the road.
Clear-cutting of forests in Nova Scotia has been an issue for many years. It’s doubtful that the recently elected Conservative government will improve the situation. The removal of the trees destroys the habitat for the very animals that end up as road-kill.
In the words of Bob Dylan: “Everything is broken.”
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Nature, if given the chance, takes over everything and reclaims it. There is a certain beauty and comfort in that.