Another Condo Build

Another Condo Build, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

Everywhere you look there seem to be new condos being built. Gas stations have given way to small condo projects while larger buildings are going up where older buildings have been demolished. This one is going up in my neighbourhood. I look at it with some nostalgia as I think of the restaurants and stores that were sacrificed for this development.

Passing By

Passing By, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

There was something about this building that appealed to me as I was driving. I stopped to shoot a couple of pictures. It stood out in an area of run down buildings.

Times Change

Times Change, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

I like to see the remnants of the past, evidence of our history. This building, now government offices once served as the offices of the Trunk Railway, theifore-runner to CN, which runs across Canada. You can see the sign, in relief in the stonework. So often our past is eradicated with demolition and new buildings, with new signs as buildings take on new purposes. This sign stands as a testimony to our past, while the French only government sign (not visible in this photograph)vouches for the needed changes that happened in Quebec.

Through the Window

Through the Window, originally uploaded by susanvg.

At my photo course this evening we were asked to go around the CEGEP (a junior college) and take photographs of each other with existing light. I can never resist taking photos of other things I see. This window just needed to be photographed.

The CEGEP is partly located in what was once a religious building - the mother house for a sect of nuns. However, most of the interior of the building has been totally stripped of any past architectural details. Florescent lights glare over nondescript hallways which branch out like a maze. Lighting was a challenge for our photographs as was finding backgrounds of interest. Too bad students have to spend their days in such lifeless surroundings.

March 25/10: Black and White

March 25/10: Black and White, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The daily shoot assignment was to photograph in black and white (though I admit to removing the colour later). I thought it appropriate to shoot a building that was built in black and white times - when colour photography was rare. It was black and white times in other ways. Politically people were polarized with those who believed in more progressive ideas, stalked and blocked by those who were "red-hunting." Much seemed to be black and white - with right and wrong answers what counted in education - getting it "right".

Colour crept into our lives with colour photography reflecting the more varied ideas, the multi-coloured immigrants (both in skin tone and alternate dress) and the changes in education that encourage thought, decision-making and questioning.

Mar 18/10 Advertising

Mar 18/10 Advertising, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Daily Shoot: Find something that's so old it's almost timeless and make a photograph of it.

While this ad is of a time - its content dates itself, advertising has been around for a long time. Whether it was the fish mongers calling out their wares or the pictures outside a shop luring customers inside, people have always found ways to convince others that they needed your product. As times have changed, it is hard to imagine building walls painted with cigarette advertising. Here it is not cigarette advertising is not even allowed at events - so sponsorship by tobacco companies is limited. This wall was revealed when the next door building burnt down. It was probably not there long before the neighbouring building covered it as it is barely weathered.

This ad shows its age in a number of other ways - the price certainly is one. Here in Quebec, outdoor advertising must be in French - not the case here. This section of Montreal has always been predominantly English, so when this was painted it was aiming at the local population.

The wall will soon disappear again, to be hidden by new construction (more condos) to replace the destroyed structure.

You can see another example of an old ad on a building here.