water views
November 18, 2013 in Nature, Photoworks
while it is a dreary watery November day here, I am dreaming of some different water views
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old technology
November 17, 2013 in Canada and BC, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, History, Tools and technology
I have been revisiting some of my husband’s photos taken inside the Sointula Museum. He only had his camera phone so unfortunately they are not very sharp. I’m quite intrigued by a couple of examples of very old technology.
The card on the switchboard says:
Telephones first came to Sointula January 23, 1956. This is the ORIGINAL SWITCHBOARD used by the North-West Telephone bilingual exhange telephone service. Sointula jumped from eight telephones on one party-line to one hundred telphones and a switchboard managed by operators who were fluent in both Finnish and English. It is believed that Sointula is B.C.’s first bilingual telephone exchange.
Below, as labelled, is a Finnish typewriter, patented 1912.
I asked myself, does it have a Finnish keyboard? I blew up the image to try to read the worn out keys. I could tell it’s not our current English keyboard. With the help of a little photoshop sharpening, I think that the two lower left keys are an ä and ö, very important letters in the Finnish language.
Alert Bay Res school: details
November 16, 2013 in Canada and BC, Photoworks, Textures, Urban
Details of the walls and windows of the now closed St. Michael’s Indian Residential School in Alert Bay. This kind of weathering and aging activity is a very fascinating subject for me to record. Yet these images are a deeply disturbing record and reminder of what happened behind those walls so I’m not sure I could bear to ever print these.
ferry details – 4
November 15, 2013 in Photoworks, Textures, Urban
This ferry to Quadra Island and back was a treasure trove of great details for my eye and for my camera. I think these are the last of the best!
ferry details
November 12, 2013 in Photoworks, Textures, Urban
Still remembering our wonderful island hopping trip in September. I love the small ferries and the opportunity to stand on the open car decks and take a close look at interesting details while also enjoying the sea crossings. We had boarded the ferry to Quadra Island early so had a bit of a quiet wait with no crowds nor vibrations, perfect for taking photos. As always, my interest in the weathered and the rusted details shows!
Deer Lake Park
November 11, 2013 in Canada and BC
After visiting the exhibitions at the Burnaby Art Gallery, we ventured out for a walk in Deer Lake Park which this gallery overlooks.
The brilliant coloured leaves are still clinging on the trees even as they carpet the ground below. That yellow is like sunshine on our cloudy day!
The stroll by the lake always invites many pauses to look closely at the shoreline and the water grasses. No water birds this time but the chickadees were cheerfully singing and flitting in the shrubs.
The water lilies are shrinking back in preparation for winter. They are spread out far out in the water.
Still some colour on those leaves.
The stunning red leaves of the Japanese maples are my favourites.
Dutch Art in Burnaby
November 10, 2013 in Art Exhibitions, Other artists, Printmaking
Image Credit: Rembrandt van Rijn,The Windmill, 1641,
Etching on cream laid paper, 14.7 x 20.7 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
This afternoon we visited the Burnaby Art Gallery and its two exhibitions of Dutch art, Storms and Bright Skies: Three Centuries of Dutch Landscapes and Inner Realms: Dutch Portraits.
These were mostly small drawings and etchings with some watercolours and a couple of oil paintings from the Golden Age, 1600’s to 1800’s. Very fine detailed work (magnifying glasses were on loan), really quite lovely and romantic images of the countryside and people of the day. One image of skaters on a frozen pond had husband wondering if the sticks being used were precursors to today’s hockey sticks? A few Brueghels and several Rembrandts were the highlights. Naturally all the printworks were my favourites and those of Rembrandt most superb, both landscapes and portraits including a self-portrait.
With the dim lighting calling for flash, I did not try to take photos, even were it allowed. It was surprisingly busy, as if it was an opening event, with many families taking advantage of the Sunday afternoon children’s art activities in another room. I think this kind of exhibition of traditional and historic work probably appeals to a greater number of the public than some contemporary work, do you suppose?
Here’s more about the exhibitions in the Burnaby Newsleader, with an image of Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait.
As always when we visit the BAG, afterwards we went for a walk in the lovely garden around the gallery and down to Deer Lake – photos to come tomorrow!
links
November 9, 2013 in Photoworks, Textures, Urban
As most readers know, I love photographing details of interesting things like rusty objects. These are from the ferry that we rode a few weeks ago to Quadra Island and back. As I’m searching in my mind for a title, I think of ‘links’. I know that word has a multitude of meanings and assocations but I’m surprised at how many there are!
These are mostly rusty chain links, but can the twisted rope chain also be called a link or links? I recall taking similar detail photos on a ferry years ago but do you think I could find that link in my huge archives, or maybe I never did post the photos I’m thinking of? A missing link somewhere?