Distances travelled within Canada’s vast landscape are huge. Travel along its roadways demands commitment to best use of drive time between point of origin and destination so you get where you are going and so you enjoy where you got yourself to. Within this travel predicament kinaesthetic awareness of the road counts as much as visual presentation in terms of road familiarity. Curves, drops, bumps and inclines inform you in your travel along the road. Artists depicting the predicament of Canadian travel often poke fun at vacations enjoyed from a car’s interior as the terrain passes by as much as it is something enjoyed at the destination’s endpoint. A better way to see more of Canada’s landscape is accomplished looking through a camera lens; doing so requires you to stop your vehicle, stow it safely along the roadside, get out of it and interact more substantially with the environment you encounter.
An iconic rendering of Canada’s roadscape is what the image presented here is about. I’ve photographed a portion of the up-and-down incline leading up to Twin Lakes along Alberta’s Highway 35, one hundred and fifty kilometres south from High Level en route toward Edmonton. In distance, the incline covers five kilometres of road surface and rises onto a land mass noted for the temperature change that occurs from bottom of the incline to its crest. In winter a double-digit temperature change can occur and is accompanied by a marked change in weather travelled through. Ascending or descending, driving this incline is a tricky endeavor in winter, something compounded by snow. While one aspect of this image favours the artist’s tongue-in-cheek take on ‘Windshield Time’, the manner in which most Canadians see their Canada rolling past them, the image also recalls lives of former students who as new (and perhaps impatient) drivers were trekking through this bit of terrain on second- or third-ever tries; one bright future ended in a vehicle roll-over. Another life was impacted by partial paralysis. It’s this portion of road in this image that seems to surprise drivers … even experienced ones. Last November, descending the incline in snow was an activity more akin to skiing than rolling forward in a half-ton truck.
Listening to: Gillian Welch’s I Dream a Highway from her Time – The Revelator album, Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road from her album of the same name and High and Dry from Radiohead’s The Best of Radiohead.
Quote to Inspire: “No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” ― Ansel Adams
Playground Equipment – Spirit of the North Community School, High Level, Alberta
Bog Runner Project Vehicle … In Development – High Level, Alberta
Curbside – Quality Motors, High Level, Alberta
Extra Foods – Gas Bar, High Level, Alberta
A busy week has me posting photographs almost a week beyond date of image capture. Last Friday’s photowalk took us through High Level’s southern side, a slippery, melting world, a world of water splashing and flowing and soaking through. Photographers captured freeze-frame splashing, the results of big chunks of ice being thrown into puddles. Others’ photographs were more about water’s ripple and reflection, water moving and water that’s settled. Beyond this, water misted in the spray generated by vehicles traveling among wet, wet High Level roads.
I used my Sigma 10-20 mm in two ways, first to distort line and shape of subjects close by and secondly to photograph landscape traveled through. The subjects photographed include an RCMP three-quarter ton truck, playground equipment at Spirit of the North Community School, a bog-runner truck … in development, the curbside view of Quality Motors (our local Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Dealer) and the Extra Foods Gas Bar (part of the Canadian Superstore chain).
Listening to the Steve Miller Band – Rock’n Me, Take the Money and Run and Mercury Blues from the Fly Like an Eagle album; other songs have included Murray McLauchlan’s Hard Rock Town and Ryan Adam’s Chains of Love.
Quote to Inspire – “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”– Dorothea Lange
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 1
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 2
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 3
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 4
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 3
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 5
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 6
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 7
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 8
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 9
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 10
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 11
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 12
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 13
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 14
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 15
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 16
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 17
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 18
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 19
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 20
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 21
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 22
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 23
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 24
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 25
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 26
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 1
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 2
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 3
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 4
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 5
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 6
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 7
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 8
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 9
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 10
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 11
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 2
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 3
1950s Greyhound Bus – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1950s Greyhound Bus – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 2
Within this past week I have photographed two Mercury Trucks, the first, an early fifties three ton grain truck, part of a display celebrating the agricultural heritage of Manning, Alberta; the second was a vehicle that is as old as I am, a 1961 Mercury 100 pickup truck located in Brock Enterprises’ industrial lot in High Level, Alberta.
As one who returned to University to complete two degrees, one job I enjoyed for an interim year in October of 1981 was that of working with Ford Motor Company (FOMOCO) in Edmonton, Alberta at Waterloo Mercury, first as a used-car car jockey, then as showroom car jockey and later as pre-delivery inspector. Not quite a gear head, I know a good deal about how a car or truck can be driven and how a vehicle should ride; and, I am someone who enjoys BBC America’s Top Gear. Back then, in 1981, detailing vehicles was my side-business, something allowing me to put money in the bank for University and it’s something I continue to take great pride in. I value a well-turned out vehicle and my preferences for waxes include the McGuiar’s waxes as well as the Autoglym waxes that have received Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II (this is the schtuff used on Aston Martins).
On Thursday, following a long day at school, I drove through High Level’s industrial area, saw a crew vehicle parked in front of Brock Enterprises and went in to ask permission to photograph the 1961 Mercury 100 Pickup stored on this property by the Brock Enterprises owner. It was a never-done experience, that of providing my name, information about where I work and about my teaching photography at our local high school. Later that evening, the matter was one moving me from our couch outdoors to seize the opportunity of photographing the Mercury 100 pickup up close. That night I got out to the Brock Enterprises Industrial Lot and spent perhaps forty-five minutes photographing this metallic green truck and another vehicle, likely a 1950’s Greyhound bus. Photography with long exposures provided me time for looking beyond the truck around at its environment. I was working with Automatic Exposure Bracketing to create High Dynamic Range (HDR) images; so, each HDR image was taking about two minutes to create at 100 ISO. I was dressed in ski pants, ski jacket and warm head-gear; warm comfort is a part of capturing good images in winter or colder temperatures. As I looked around me I saw deer in a neighboring industrial lot moving along a path taking them to the Viterra Grain Elevator where they could feast on grain spillage.
Listening to an iTunes genius generated playlist originating from Mercury Blues by David Lindley from the El Rayo-X album; others songs in the playlist include Get Right with God by Lucinda Williams from Essence, Sweet Fire of Loveby Robbie Robertson from his album entitled Robbie Robertson; Bang a Gong [Get It On] by T. Rex from Electric Warrior, Elvis Presley Blues by Gillian Welch from her Time – the Revelator album and Bob Dylan’s Dignity from Bob Dylan: The Collection – MTV Unplugged have also surfaced as song interests. I’ve also been inspired to purchase through iTunes Fly Like An Eagle, Rock’n Me and Take the Money and Run in addition to Mercury Blues by the Steve Miller Band (good old songs from a grade 11 year … all those years ago).
Quotes to Inspire (1) “The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer.” – Anonymous; and, (2) “Actually, I’m not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I’m not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren’t cooks.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
In My Back Pocket - Photography 
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