January 30, 2016 – In My Back Pocket

Fifties Ford – Fort Vermilion, Ab – Canada

The day held a meeting and rather than a team of colleagues going, I would attend the meeting alone. I took camera gear with me. I hoped that the day would yield photographs, that I would find myself within the situation of a photograph. Having left early enough, I could scout out possible images; there was no need for haste through the morning’s seventy-eight kilometre drive.

The day held different gifts.

A year ago, a friend related an experience. He’d needed to take a call and had parked his service truck in a farmer’s farm entrance to be off the highway. He’d needed to turn his vehicle around, backing it onto the highway. Before he moved too far, he looked up, forward to find an old truck, perhaps a Ford, from the fifties or sixties. He captured the image with his smartphone. On this day, traveling to a meeting, I was in his neck of the woods, perhaps no more than three or four kilometres from Fort Vermilion and I saw the vehicle he was referring to from the highway. At day’s end, I would return and see if a photograph was possible. With less than an hour of daylight left I was able stop and take a series of shots.

The image above was the image photographed.

Shed – Buttertown, Ab – Canada 1

Shed – Buttertown, Ab – Canada 2

Shed – Buttertown, Ab – Canada 3

Windrow – Buttertown, Ab – Canada

Combine – Buttertown, Ab – Canada

I intended to travel from Fort Vermilion to the north settlement after the meeting. At the meeting I asked a friend and colleague about the north settlement. “Would I be able to access or walk in to the St. Louis Catholic Mission church?” She didn’t know. But, the revelation was to find that she lived in the north settlement. Her and her husband’s families had lived in the north settlement through generations. She is someone who knows the stories of the north settlement, of Buttertown. That’s something.

These images are Buttertown, north settlement images.

Listening to – Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill,’ Peter Gabriel’s ‘Mercy Street’ and Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This.’

Quote to Consider – “The picture that you took with your camera is the imagination you want to create with reality.” Scott Lorenzo

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 1

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 2

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 2a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 3a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 4

High Level Hospital – High Level, Ab – Canada

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 6

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 6a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 6b

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 7

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 7a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 8

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 9

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 10

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 10a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 10b

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 10c

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 11a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 11b

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 11c

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 11d

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 11f

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 13

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 13a

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 13b

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 13c

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 13d

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 14

Hoar Frost Morning – High Level, Ab – Canada 15

Our weather has been warm for January. In a portion of the year when we are accustomed to -40C and colder, last night rain fell upon our world. A thick slippery mat of ice coated all – vehicles moved with success while our biped selves slipped, slid, stumbled and tumbled. This set of images holds more meandering with a camera. Walking before school, white hoar frost dazzles. We may not see this weather outcome again this winter.

Listening to – Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs’ ‘Beg, Steal or Borrow,’ David Gray’s ‘Fugitive’ and ‘Kathleen,’ John Mayer’s ‘Queen of California’ and the Avett Brothers’ ‘Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise.’

Quote to Consider – “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever … It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” – Aaron Siskind