urban canyons # 1 -5 ~ back to where I once belonged

urban canyon ~ Toronto, CA. • click to embiggen
urban canyon ~ New York, NY • click to embiggen
urban canyon ~ Toronto, CA. • click to embiggen
urban canyon ~ Toronto, CA. • click to embiggen
urban canyon ~ Toronto, CA. • click to embiggen
8×10 view camera work / c.1979-80 ~ Rochester, NY • click to embiggenI have always liked, one might even write "loved", picturing urban environments. In fact, it would be quite accurate to write that my immersion into the world of moving beyond the pretty picture began with my first picture making, back in 1979-80, of an urban environment with my 8×10 view camera.

During my recent visits to NYC and Toronto, the call of picturing the urban environment has reemerged with remarkable insistence and clarity. However, there is a difference between the siren call which instigated my earlier work and that which is gnawing at me today; today's voice is drawing me to the often imposing and towering canyons of many modern urban settings and the play of light and shadow which regularly permeates those spaces.

In addition to their visual appeal, the canyons evoke in me contradictory feelings and thoughts of standoff-ish coolness and of an alluring warmth. Like their counterparts in the natural world, walking amongst them inspires a sense of wonder and awe, albeit in this case, at what man has wrought - a feeling which stands in contrast to but which also aligns in many ways with that which nature has wrought in the natural world.

In any event, I hope to explore urban canyons in a much more deliberate and concerted manner. Unfortunately, but by choice, I live in a place which is far removed from most urban canyons. Consequently, I will need to concentrate on urban canyon picturing opportunities when they present themselves to my eye and sensibilities.

And, I should mention that my long-unused 8×10 view camera is screaming at the top its bellowed lungs, "Take me! Take me! Take me!"