morley baer

Seats – Valleyview, Alberta 1

Seats – Valleyview, Alberta 2

Around Alberta, perhaps especially in the north with its longer distances travelled to school, along the highway you’ll discover structures parents have created for their children in which to wait for the school bus. The structure might be a five by five, closed-in shack with windows on the sides to watch for buses; the shack allows students respite from wind and weather while waiting. Here, two bench seats have been pulled from a car or truck to create a place to sit and wait for the school bus; the seats may be also departure point for people waiting for a ride … perhaps when thumbing a ride. I found the pair of seats on the road between Valleyview and Grande Prairie, on my drive home with my son’s effects. He’ll be home from University today, after touring British Columbia with the University of Alberta Mixed Chorus. The colour-work of tinting images reminds of Dan Kameka and his work with farm machinery and farm structures – the Sexsmith grain elevator comes to mind, an eight foot image in Grande Prairie’s Trumpeter Hotel … the first place I encountered Dan’s work.

Listening to – Chris Whitley … ‘Dust Radio’ still captivates my hearing lyrically and in terms of its sound structure; I’ve heard two versions, one unplugged and one from the ‘Living with the Law’ album – liking both … unplugged is what drew my attention.

Quote to Inspire – “Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it.” – Morley Baer

Twin Lakes 2 – Twin Lakes, Alberta

Twin Lakes 3 – Twin Lakes, Alberta

Twin Lakes 1 – Twin Lakes, Alberta

A common road travelled becomes common talking point, especially in terms of those travels upon that road that challenge you. Two kilometres receive representation in this photo from the photo’s bottom-most edge to the crest of the Twin Lake’s hill. On your way to Edmonton from High Level (or on your return journey) this part of the road is the tricky bit – the section of the road that requires finesse. Traveling northward, from the hill’s crest the descent (behind the camera) is some five kilometres. And, weather within the air mass covering this hill can change drastically in winter. A driver may encounter fog or several inches of snow. The long road surface can be glazed with ice and you may be driving upon it before a sanding truck is able to add surface grip. And, with the rolling hills of incline/descent it is possible to be surprised by an oncoming vehicle passing another in your lane. This Twin Lakes hill demands a driver’s alertness, calm and skill. Usually once you’re past Twin Lakes traveling north or south the drive regains steady and anticipated progress.

So, this photo may be the one, as common talking point the photo may be the one to try as a large canvas print. We’ll see.

Listening to – Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, a song played on our Heintzman piano (bright sounding piano) by my daughter – good, good schtuff.

Quote to Inspire – “Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it.” – Morley Baer