Photo of the Week 2023-06-19

 

Five years ago today, my numbers came up and I retired. Technically, I was employed until then end of June but used accumulated vacation time to ensure that I didn't work a day after turning 60. It was the end of an instalment in my book of life and the beginning of a fun new one. That next instalment is currently under development and with continued good fortune it will be full.

I'm thankful for the career I had through the succession of corporate iterations, OAKS Precast / Standard Industries / Lafarge Canada / LafargeHolcim. The arrival of this anniversary, had me thinking back, running through memories acquired over a few decades. Perhaps predictably, it led to my photo archive where I came across these from a vacation stay in Montreal ...

 

' Corporate Office '

 

 

I never visited that office in all the years I worked for the company, and by the time I made this photo in 2009, the legal corporate entity was no longer Canada Cement. Corporate offices had relocated elsewhere, many changes had taken place and more were on the horizon. Some things change for the better, some don't. Much depends on our own perspective...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-11-05

A recent post by a friend, sent me into my library catalogue to search images from 6 years ago. I knew I had photographed the same location and wanted to check dates and other specifics before commenting on their post ... but while browsing the library, as often happens, some images now speak to me more powerfully than they did initially, those years ago.

I found it difficult to explain why the image below had been sitting, just sitting in my library without being shown ... until now.

standing in the mist

I recall the experience of making this photograph, as vividly as if it were just recently. The silence of a lonely road, interrupted periodically by the sound of an approaching vehicle. The dampness of the mist floating over my bare hands in the cool morning air, seeing the steam from my breath and feeling the loving embrace of nature.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-04-02

After playing hockey since the age of 8, with only a couple of brief hiatus', I decided to make this season my last  ...  

...  I'm "hanging 'em up"

'hanging 'em up"

Outside of photographing nature, wildlife and landscapes, I also find myself compelled to document certain aspects of life. In those cases, usually, there is an emotional attachment to the place, the subject or the moment as was the case for the image of my mother's hands or the ones I've made with memorabilia from my grandfather.

Recently, my regular group of pick-up hockey players had their last ice time of the season. I met one of these guys 28 years ago shortly after moving to Guelph and we have played together ever since.He has become a very good friend and as expected, there are many others that I have come to know through hockey through the years.

The decision to 'hang 'em up' comes at the same time I prepare to retire from a 35 year working career, the last 30 of those years with one company. Plans for the future would have me away and missing a lot of the early morning ice times and I don't think it's a wise decision to play only once in a while if I'm not in "game (for me) shape" after the age of 60. So it's time ...

... an emotional time for sure and one that I am compelled to document with my photography.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-05-09

It's been a year of reflection and much has changed since Mother's Day last year. Approaching the anniversary of my mom's passing, I often find myself deep in thought, reflecting on the journey that has brought me to here and now. There are a number of triggers that send me off again ...

... like when a cousin recently asked if I would go through my family photos to see if there were any of my aunt to use for a slide show at the celebration of life service they had planned. Every time I go back into the albums and envelopes I'm in for an adventure. This time, I found a small B&W photo of my mother holding me in her arms. I couldn't have been taken very long after I came home from the hospital for the first time. Finding this is what moved me to go and visit the Riverdale area of Toronto last week. To the area where mom and dad lived when I was born (last week's Photo of the Week was a result of that trip) ...

... I also knew that with Mother's Day coming up, I had to scan and post the image in memory of her. Once I began cleaning up the file from the scan, I noticed the back of a chair over her right shoulder, there was something familiar about that chair ... I'm not sure how, from such a small section of it, but I recognized it as one I kept when mom moved out of the house ... an idea for an image began to form. I had the thought of incorporating the chair as a link between a photo made now and the original B&W. It was a little more challenging that I had first expected and didn't work out exactly as I had planned, but it sure was an interesting exercise.

 Here is the result.

then and now

... the original B&W
















DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-04-11

Making new images has taken a back seat for the past couple of weeks. Oh the camera has been out and there have been a number of clicks, but there was nothing very purposeful in terms of making new images. I've been busy with some of the every day life stuff like, the day job, getting the car serviced and putting the finishing touches to a home kitchen reno that has come together nicely.

But that doesn't mean I've been completely inactive photographically ... after going to see one of my images licensed by Parks Canada at last week's BPNP Visitors Center Open House, I dropped in to the Upper Deck Gallery and while there, decided to take a different wall space with a bit more room and a corner layout. This means I'll have space for a few more prints on the wall and to set up a table and rack to display cards and unframed prints.

I've also been busy going through the family photo collection looking for pics of my aunt for an upcoming family event. Plus, every April 8th for the past several years, I've posted  something to my personal facebook page in honour of my Grandfather, Ernest James England who was killed on that day 1945 while fighting in Holland. These last two activities came together when searching for photos, I found a clipping of the original newspaper notice of his death and the photos from my father's one and only trip to Holland in 1995 for the 50th Anniversary of the end of WWII. It was during that trip that family members were fortunate enough to connect with historians who knew of my grandfather and the details relating his death.

During the later stages of the war in Northern Holland, my grandfathers reconnaissance regiment (8th Recce. 14th Hussars) was leading the advance of Canadian forces as they approached Holten. He was out on a mission clearing the area of German troops when his bren gun carrier was erroneously targeted by a tank from the Fort Garry Horse Regiment and he was killed instantly by a direct hit. Bits of this had murmured through the family over the years and not only was it confirmed during the trip to Holland, but the family were taken to the spot on a farm lane where it happened.

farm lane - note tree on far left

As I understand, the tree on the far left, with the large scar of missing bark close to the ground, is the exact spot, the tree where what remained of the bren gun carrier remained for some time. This information was obtained from the man who owned the farm back in 1945. In 1995 he still owned the farm and came out to speak with family members through the historians who acted as interpreters.

farm owner (I must get his name)

I hold what remains of my family photos. Passed down to me by my mother, there are mostly ones my father took, some date back to the early 1900's, maybe a bit more. They are treasures. Through them I am reminded to print the everyday stuff from my own photo exploits. Through them I have an extremely powerful piece of family history ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-03-09

 ... or rather "Photo Project of the Week"

Lynn saw the use of an old french door or multi-pane window re-purposed as a photo frame and suggested that we do something along the same lines for the cottage. We've decided to populate the frame with images that capture special cottage times, "firsts", times with family, times with friends and memorable moments.

I took a selection of images made since we took possession in August 2013, printed 5x7's and brought them up to fill the frame and hang it over the weekend. It turned out even better than we had anticipated. Hung on the hall wall (short as it is), just outside a room that sees regular use, it stops me and makes me smile every time I see it. There's always at least one image that catches my eye and stirs great memories. We plan to add new images as time goes on, likely removing the more scenic ones to be replaced with times with friends and family.

We call it "The Cottage Window". It lets us look out onto the good times we've already had up there and reminds us how precious these times are.

"The Cottage Window"

 Current images Top to Bottom, Left to Right (links provided to images previously posted):
1. me B&W version
2. the Family 
3  Milky Way over Hay Bay
4. Lynn and Murph at the shore
5. Big Tub Light in winter
6. Lynn's foot at Halfway Log Dump
7. Singing Sands drifts
8. Winter Retreat (the Cottage)
9. Waves at Little Cove
10. Jordan and I beginning the hike Halfway Log Dump to Indian Head Cove
11. 1st night shoreside campfire
12. winter shore
13. Lynn and Jordan canoeing
14. Murph and Gus
15. last light 2014

DJE

Photo of the Week 2013-05-13

Holding on to memories ...

... it can be a challenge for the elderly. Mom was always sharp mentally, that is until the last couple of years when her diabetes became too much for her to manage by herself. For more than 30 years, with help from Dad, she had managed her blood sugar level by strictly following diet guidelines, testing her blood and giving herself four insulin injections per day. Just over a year ago, living on her own in a seniors residence, things changed.

Her "brittle diabetic" condition got away from her and she was hospitalized with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis), on three occasions. On the last, I just about lost her. She was in ICU for over a week and unresponsive for the first several days as medical staff helped her fight to stay alive. Her body chemistry was way out of whack and more than once I questioned what impact it would have when and if she recovered.

She did recover but it would no longer be possible for her to live on her own and she moved to a long term care facility. Sadly, she had lost some of that mental edge she always had. Now, when I visit, we do crossword puzzles together to help keep her mind active. We also talk a lot about what is going on with her grandsons and of things past.

On Mother's Day, I took some of my photos to look at so she could see what I've been up to. We talked about them and a reprint I had made of a portrait my Dad took of her a long time ago.
 

We talked about how much Dad enjoyed photography and taking her picture whenever she got dressed up. Mom said she remembered having her photograph taken wearing the blouse she has on in the the photograph she is holding. I posted that image and a blog post for Mother's Day yesterday. I also planned to make an image of her with that photo that would capture the mood as she relived the memories.

All visits with mom are special, but on Mother's Day this past Sunday, it was extra special.

DJE