Photo of the Week 2026-06-08

 

A little over a month ago, I met up with a couple of friends and visited a couple of locations on the Hamilton 'Doors Open' weekend back in May. Auchmar (photos available in this flickr Album) and The Cotton Factory (the subject of this post) were our chosen sites.

 

The Cotton Factory, former site of the Imperial Cotton Co. has been transformed into a creative industries complex, with space for workshops, studios for artists and office space for creative professionals. I found the 1900's brick facade full of personality and character to capture in the strong mid day sun. For my exterior shots I used the Canon R5 with a Sigma 35mm f/1/4 Art lens mounted via an EF to RF Kolari drop-in filter adapter (w/clear filter) and I thought it may be of interest to show the complete set to give an idea of what catches my eye at a location like this.

 

' green doors and shattered window '

' light and shadow '

' verte 'n valves '

' verte to go ' 

' blocked door '

' chimney stacked ' 

' traces of whitewash '

' getting from here to there '

' car in the courtyard '

So there you have it, The Cotton Factory exterior, at least some of it, through the eyes of DJE 

  

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-01-19

 

A recent meet-up with a 'photo phriend' provided a change of subject matter and caused me to work a little at making images. It had been a while since I'd been in an industrial setting, and interesting as it was, the Niagara Parks Power Station and Tunnel threw down the gauntlet. I'd long had an interest in the historical structures on the Canadian side of Niagara, but these locations were more than I would tackle back in my Urbex / Rurex days.

 

Since it opened in 2021, this now tourist attraction has been on my radar more out of historical interest in the construction and technology than photography. Still I was interested to see what I could capture through the lens. The images can be found on my flickr page starting here and ending with the 'Photo of the Week' image.

 

' Below Horseshoe Falls ' 

My first time below the falls and a wonderful wet vantage point (3 image stitched pano).

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-06-09

 

 

' Canadian Retail Takes Flight '

On the day when 'The Bay' takes it's last breath and under a different name, Flight Stop, this 1979 iconic art installation may have foreshadowed what was to come with the disintegration of Canadian retail.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-05-26

 

I have a photo walkabout coming up in Toronto with a couple of photog friends. We've put together a bit of a plan with locations to visit and a route we'll walk after arriving by Go-Train on a Saturday morning.

 

The discussions we've had in putting together the plan have me looking back through the image catalogue, revisiting the results from prior visits to what I know as 'The Big Smoke' but those younger may call 'the 6'. A trip to T.O. for some walkabout photography was a much more frequent event 15 years ago when anywhere from 2 to 10 of us would carpool into the downtown and spend the day shooting.

 

Lynn and I would visit our hometown now and then for an outing, Jays game or just for something to do. This week's photo comes form one such outing back in 2008 when she and I visited the Yorkville Firehall (Station No 10), where her father worked through some of his years on the TFD. He had passed, a Line of Duty related death, prior to this visit, but we met up with brother-in-law Bill who provided an 'all-access' pass for me and my camera. This allowed me to climb the hose tower steps of one of Toronto's oldest Firehalls to get a shot looking back down ...

 

' hoses hung '

DJE

 

Photo of the Week 2024-09-30

 

Back from Scotland for a week and I'm still posting images from the first day we were there, almost three weeks ago. At this rate it may take me a while to get through all that I shot during the trip :-D

After making a stop at the Scott Monument (last week's post), the next stop while in Edinburgh was Dean Village. Research on potential locations to visit and photograph led me to add this to our Day-1 itinerary as it was just a short walk from our hotel. There was much to photograph (see my Scotland 2024 Album on flickr for some additional images), and the old stone bridge carrying Bells Brae across the Water of Leith really caught my eye. So much so I had trouble selecting just one image, so here's a collage.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-08-08

 

In Scotland, on the way to Inverness, we stopped at the Culloden Battle Field Visitor Centre and explored.  Every time I visit the site of a battle, any battle, I am struck by the sense of loss. No matter what the side, what the cause, what the era, the human life lost through conflict, combat and conquest lingers in such places ...

' Mixed Clans '

 

It was no different at Culloden and the heavy skies moving in as we arrived added to the mood. Under threat of rain,we had to hurry out to the areas of the site where memorial cairns and grave markers dotted the landscape, and then the skies opened up. We did make it back to cover but considerably more damp that we would have preferred.

Not long afterwards, in true Sottish fashion, it cleared rapidly, blue and white dominating the sky and the sun shone bright overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-07-04

On this photographic journey, there have been surprises, disappointments, doldrums, successes, ups, downs and every once-in-a-while the exceptional. I count my visit to Rosslyn Chapel as one of those few exceptional times, one which has me reviewing the images I made, reliving the experience, over and over.

So, my apologies now to anyone following who may not appreciate or share my fascination with this historical wonder. Photographically, I might be here for a while ...

 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-06-27

 

At long last, with mine own eyes I experienced the beauty that is Rosslyn Chapel ...

 

... and my long anticipated visit to this iconic structure did not disappoint. In fact it overwhelmed. Less than a handful of times in my life have I been so awestruck by that which man has created. For much of our brief visit, I was left speechless.

 

I had not expected the rainbow of colour presented by the carved sandstone, particularly the exterior that has been spared a misguided conservation attempt half a century ago. That process saw cement slurry brushed over the interior surfaces to protect against moisture, not only masking the colours but the exquisite carving details as well.

What beauty, what detail and what colours. Photography was not permitted in the interior, though I may have made a shot or two discretely from the hip as we explored inside. For now let's focus on the first of my images from the exterior. To see the complete set as I undoubtedly add more from this experience of a lifetime, click here for the flickr collection, a number of which I plan to print and display at home.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-20

I knew little of Windfields Farm before it caught my eye while driving by sometime early in 2012. I first photographed the gates and exterior fences on a snowy February day and returned on at least 3 additional occasions, twice entering the abandoned, vacant property to photograph what was then a deteriorating Canadian icon. This is the third recent 'Photo of the Week' post featuring those images from Windfields.

As I have revisited, remembered and reprocessed, the image below stands out and continues to have a haunting effect on me. Marked as Barn #1, I envision it as the barn where the cream of the crop would have been housed. It was by far the most well appointed of the barns I was able to explore.

While inside, as I explored, looking for a composition to capture the disintegrating equine luxury, I could almost hear the neighing, snorting and the sound of hooves from famous thoroughbreds in the chilling icy silence.

High Rent District

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-06

As days begin to blur together in COVID isolation, the already less formal in retirement daily routine has been further defocused. Now too, the weekly rhythm weakens, becomes less important with external activities curtailed, and getting ready to go to bed last night, I realized it was Sunday, that I had not prepared a regular blog post for the morning.

I have been spending a considerable amount of time these days at my computer in the basement, reviewing images, most from 10 or more years ago and you would think that I might have a collection of images flagged for posting ... you'd be right.

Fortunately I have, and I've wanted to keep to the stream of Urbex / Rurex images that I've been posting. Coincidentally, I had begun work on a series from Windfields Farm, a location steeped in Ontario history, particularly in the equine community.

the light beyond

The grave of Northern Dancer

I have a fairly extensive catalogue of images from a few visits to this location and will likely be posting more on my social media feeds in the coming days.
NOTE: 
As I sat down to wright this post, I was shocked to see a news article about a fire at an abandoned structure in my social media feed. Just the other day, I saw a significant collection of images of this place posted to a FB page I follow. It was a grand log home that I was previously unaware of, and apparently very close to developed Brampton.
This is an all too familiar scenario, remembering the fires resulting from arson in Wellington County and surrounding area several years ago. It was at that time I stopped visiting and photographing abandonments. The increased security and police presence aside, publicizing these locations was very probably attracting the wrong type of attention. In the case of the structures in Wellington, a troubled mind, now charged with setting several of the fires. In the case of this recent Brampton fire, cause or those responsible yet to be determined. Whether accident, carelessness, misadventure, stupidity or sickness, I'm again left contemplating to what degree posting images of abandoned places contributes to the frequency of these fires.
Final Note: I understand that Windfields Farm is no longer abandoned or standing as it did, that the property has been developed or repurposed and as such no longer exists as I experienced it.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-04-22

As a photographer, I find my photogrpaher's eye always on the lookout for possible images. 

While on a recent personal journey to the Netherlands, the main purpose of which was not photography related, my photographer's eye still identified opportunities for an image. Whether passively or actively, the eye is always working ...

De Oversteek (The Crossing)

In Nijmegen, NL, there is a bridge dedicated to the memory of WWII Allied soldiers who crossed the Waal River on September 20,1944. 48 from the US 82nd Airborne gave their lives in this endeavour. The bridge stands as a tribute to their sacrifice and a Sunset March is held every day of the year in their honour.

On a cool(ish) April evening, joined approximately 40 others, of various origins, to march with Coert Langenhuijzen of Team 31 across De Oversteek. For me, quite a moving tribute.

After the solemn salute at the memorial cairn on the north side, I returned in across the bridge in now darkness. My eye caught the shapes and patterns of light and dark and I captured the image above, a reminder of my Sunset March.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-04-15

Last week's tribute post coincided with the 74th Anniversary of my grandfather being killed in action during WWII. On that day I was nearing the conclusion of my pilgrimage through the Netherlands to the place he was killed and his grave in Holten Canadian War Cemetery.

While on this trip, I took time to capture elements of the journey through my lens. This post, with WWII related content, may not be of interest to regular followers of my work, nor may the content be comfortable for some. But I am compelled to capture what I experience with my camera, it's what I do.

Those who cannot remember the past ...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana

First stop on my trek after landing in Amsterdam at 6:30 am local was Camp Vught, a fitting beginning to a place of hardship and atrocities suffered under the Nazi regime. If you are interested in the background story to each image, click the link just before each to open learn more.

I began my time here with a hike through the woods to the Execution Site where 329 people, mostly Dutch Resistance fighters, were executed and the memorial that now marks the spot.

Execution Site

 Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch

Children's Monument

Bunker Tragedy

Wall of Reflection

 My visit, a very sobering experience that I will never forget ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-11-19

A recent visit to Ottawa offered the opportunity for the first snowy winter hike of the season (although it's still technically fall) and the chosen location was Parc de la Gatineau / Gatineau Park across the river in Quebec.

Freshly fallen snow painting the landscape in marshmallow white and crisp cold air tingling exposed skin awoke familiar sensations. We set out from the Meech Lake head of trails (P11) with the idea of a short outing to enjoy the fresh air. Along the way, a side trail sign indicating "ruins" piqued my interest and just had to be explored ... and what a treat was in store.

Wilson Ruins

We came across the "Willson Ruins" at the end of Little Meech Lake where the water flows out and tumbles down a steep sections of rapids. The impromptu encounter provided an intriguing opportunity to learn about yet another tidbit of Canadian history. You can follow the link above to find out more for yourself if you desire.

Subsequent reading on Parc de la Gatineau has placed it on my list of "must return to" sites. Fantastic fall colours, wonderful waterfalls and the MacKenzie King Estate all remain to be explored ...

DJE

 

Photo of the Week 2013-10-07

One of the things that struck me most in Rome, particularly while in the historical district, was the rich patina the time has painted over the city. Buildings, roads, sculptures, monuments and of course the iconic ruins have all had their appearance enriched by the mask of time. Everywhere I looked, my inner voice would shout, "... wow", "look at that", "oh my" or some other phrase in wonderment and awe of the rich details in the scene before me.

The time worn look of cobble stone streets ...

cobbled up

Windows and doors down a gritty side street ...

A Side Street in Rome

Ancient ruins with years of exposure to the elements ...

Forum III

They were in abundance, everywhere I looked.

I continue to work through the catalogue of images from our trip. Stopping to consider some in more detail, working on some intermittently, trying to get past the first day or two. I'm enjoying them so much, this may take a while ...

DJE