A few blocks from the Parliament Buildings and steel office towers are neighbourhoods like this one. We spend a lot of time exploring these streets; walking, shopping, trying out new places to eat and taking photographs. New places open up all the time but the atmosphere of these streets doesn’t change too much. Something to appreciate.
Circumstances have limited my chances for photography this spring but I did take these scenes mid April. I liked the colours and textures in the scene and the bit of new growth pushing through the hardscrabble soil. The weather is still quite cold and many parts of the country are experiencing severe flooding, so our favourite reserve close to the water is inaccessible.
This pre-school in our downtown neighbourhood has a welcoming mural and is bordered by a small garden maintained by the local business community. The garden contains native plants and attracts a variety of insects all summer long. City and nature photography, all within a few metres of each other.
Walking down a city laneway I wasn’t expecting to see this tin man on someone’s back stoop and stopped to take a picture. It seemed rather out of place and yet where wouldn’t it be. The art cube was one of several photographs I took last spring of similar art work. I think it’s probably disguising some city maintenance work, an attractive idea and use of artistic talent.
Late Fall. The playground is silent, the trees are bare, too cold for the kids and the birds! Most of the colour comes from man-made materials, until the temperature dips and the sun comes out. Then there is no bluer a sky or a white so brilliant as the new snow. These are the colours of Winter.
Two street scenes that couldn’t be more different. Both were taken in Montreal last summer, when we walked the city from east to west and back. I spotted Mary Poppins as we approached a crosswalk. It was an unusual location for this character and I imagine the artist had fun with that. The second photo was taken several blocks away in a quiet residential area and is an example of the fine stone homes that continue to line many of Montreal’s streets.
This part of the street has an interesting blend of old and new styles of architecture. I like the contrast in the lines, angles and materials of the two buildings. Different yet complementary, injecting some vibrancy into an otherwise ordinary city block. The young tree adds a bit more interest to the scene.
