RENO STORY - PT 2
And now for some color images.
Something just felt right about doing the first part of the renovation story in black and white. All that tearing down and emptiness just lent itself to a black and white vibe. And when I look back at my original shots, I realize there were days when I simply fixed my camera to jpg black and white and left it there. Outside it was typical grey and bleak fall weather and I probably had an hour long drive to get back to where we were staying and color just wasn’t in the cards.
But there were other days when the feeling was all color and the images below are from some of those days. This was a six month journey after all and there were lots and lots of visits back to our home.
The days with the sun shining in, there was real beauty in the chaos.
Perhaps I’ve left color for the second part of the story because there’s more hope in color. If a tearing down is black and white the rebirth should be in color. Or something like that.
In any case, after two years sitting on these images (and many hundreds more) it feels like the renovation project is now officially completed. It’s no longer haunting me from my hard drive to let it have its final breath. Finito.
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A RENOVATION STORY
This is the story that didn’t want to be written.
We’ve been living back in our home since February 12, 2018. Yep, that’s almost two years ago. That’s far longer than the renovation itself, although it felt at least as long at times.
A lot has happened in the two years I should have posted this. Our house no longer feels like it’s a strangers. It’s now fully and completely a home. That transformation was awkward. It wasn’t binary as in one day it just suddenly felt like home. It was much more nuanced. In fact, I still find myself reaching for the light switch that’s no longer there. Still turning right when I need to turn left. Perhaps after twenty three years in one house that may never change. I’m hoping eventually my brain will adjust.
The stats are pretty straightforward. The plans started in earnest in the summer and fall of 2016. We moved out the first week in September 2017 (not coincidentally the week both our kids left home to be away at school) and we finally moved back home six months and eight temporary homes later. To no great surprise, we went dramatically over budget and move in was pushed back to accommodate the growing list of add ons.
Horrors? Yes we had a few. There’s no surprise like a renovation surprise. A completely new heating and ventilation system, water proofing all sides of the house (only to have it fail and flood the basement on the very first heavy water fall), new flooring on all three floors, plus the dozens of small upgrades that slowly tear away at your soul and provide the nuances that make any renovation memorable.
In the end, we endured living out of a duffle bag for half a year, the beloved (and humbling at how lucky we are to normally live so close to work) Toronto commuter traffic jams as we ambled our way to and from our temporary residences, countless heated and occasionally fiery discussions and the never ending (or so it seemed) weekend shopping expedition to replace everything we tore out and threw away.
Lessons learned? Boy that’s a tough one. The glib answer is to never, ever, ever do a renovation. No sane person would do this fully knowing what lies ahead. On the other hand, you can’t help but feel reborn when it’s all done. The sheer newness of everything is in fact completely rejuvenating.
My favourite room by the way by far is our new music room. This has become my sanctuary. It’s all coming together, we’re finally getting the stereo system completed, and the new area rug was taken from the third floor where it was too big and has found a new home beside the Eames chair. I can’t help but feel a sense of pride. We imagined it, we created it and now it’s there to enjoy.
Alice and I sat down the other night to listen to St. Peppers Lonely Hearts and Abbey Road on our new turntable, the lights were dim, a glass of decent red wine in hand and the romance of those ancient discs turning round and round. I was transported to being 18 years old all over again. Perhaps Alice was as well. This is now officially a home. Our home. There truly is no place like it.
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BEAUTIFUL UGLY BEACH
Beautiful ugly beach. That pretty much sums it up.
These are images from my recent visit in Mount Saint Hillaire, Quebec visiting with Patrick Laroque. After we took pictures of anything and everything in my hotel room that might be interesting, we ventured off to a nearby beach where Pat launches his kayak.
The task was to get close. Pat provided his Fuji XF60 F2.4 lens, a lens I’ve not used before. The light was not very cooperative and to be frank, I couldn’t really get comfortable with the focal length or the subject matter. The beach was also fairly rocky and as I was wearing my Birkenstock’s I was fearful that I’d loose my balance and find my ankle facing a new and unattractive angle (something I’ve regrettably done before).
Yet I’m rather pleased with these images. They are quite unlike anything I’ve done before. I can’t say whether I feel compelled to run out and buy this lens, but it was a lesson well learned. Something about when life gives you lemons I think.
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ROOM
I have a day job. Lately my day job is getting a little less stressful as I’m learning to delegate and take a step back from the work that’s consumed much of the last four decades of my life.
When I picked up photography in the early teens I had no idea how rewarding it would be. But it’s also a shit load of commitment and hard work; at times more than I have the bandwidth for. And as pros and amateurs know, there are times when there’s not much left in the creative tank.
Enter Patrick Laroque. Pat is my Duracell recharging pack, my photography guru and safety net all in one package. A two day session with Pat is like taking my photographic skills off of life support and putting a 600V electrical signal through my body and brain. The man sees things that mere mortals don’t see.
The images below are from our last session towards the end of August. Since Pat was going through a dose of renovation hell and neither of us wanted to deal with Montreal traffic, we took to taking images in my hotel room at the Manoir Rouville-Campbell. What can I say, with Pat’s magic touch even his shoes are interesting.
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CURATING COLLECTIONS
Curating this site has given me all kinds of lessons on how to put together a collection of images. Something I would previously have taken for granted actually takes a fair bit of skill and lots and lots of practise.
You would think finding “like” images is a simple process but I’m often surprised by how it looks when done. There’s so many variables from the subject matter, the colors, the shapes and so on. It’s a never ending battle of trial and error.
These are a few from our recent trip to the south of Italy. The images look “warm” to my eye. Not surprisingly, they were taken in July during the hottest time of the summer.
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ANOTHER 4 HOUR BOAT TOUR
Yep, we went on (yet) another one of those cheesy 4 hour boat tours. Every time I do one of these, breathing noxious diesel fumes and watching Alice get sea sick, I swear to the heavens that this will be the last one.
A special thank you to Pat @laroquephotogram for helping with the curating and processing of these images.
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SEASIDE IN ITALY
The cool breeze coming into the room as I write this reminds me how far we are from our July trip to the south of Italy. Warm days and warm nights. The relentless heat that will melt your gelato if you don’t slurp it up quickly.
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SIMPLY 60
Most of my friends are all turning 60 this year. Simply 60. Has a warm ring to it doesn’t it? Could it be the name for a popular new TV show? Perhaps a new drug; “Simply 60… Something wonderful to sooth what ails you”. I’m not sure I’m able to get my head around it quite yet.
In a few weeks it will be my turn, but on this weekend in Algonquin Park we were there to celebrate my dear (old) friend Gary’s milestone along with his wife Gill and my sweetheart (not even near 60) Alice.
What better way to enter into your sixth decade than with old friends, savouring the sheer magnitude of something much bigger than any of us (that would be you mother nature). And because this was Arowhon Pines, the food was both magnificent and plentiful. if we couldn’t eat like we did in our thirties we certainly gave it our best effort.
We tend to mark our big birthdays with something important, something that we’ll remember. Or we don’t. I’m more in the latter camp. More of a “call me from my cave when it’s over” sort of guy.
At another dining table they were celebrating a fellow’s 95th birthday. They’ve come every year to honour him (father, grandfather and great-grandfather). I think that’s wonderful. He was still pretty agile for a 95 year old and he looked like the happiest guy there. Maybe that’s the secret. Every decade is a good decade, every year is a good year. Every day a good day. Carpe diem!
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KANSAS CITY, MORE THAN JUST BBQ
Business or pleasure. The line sometimes blur for us when we’re in a city that’s known for its good food.
Flying in from Toronto where it’s been one of the coldest, wettest and miserable springs on record, we landed in Kansas City to 90ºF temperatures. It was feeling pretty tropical.
But what I noticed most on the first days was the quality of the light. It was like being in Portugal or Barcelona all over again. Man do I miss the sun living in grey Toronto.
My photo time was limited to the 10 minute walk to the convention centre and back to our hotel. The days would be spent working, but at night Alice and I ventured to several good to very good barbecue joints.
In Kansas City everyone you meet has an opinion on where the best barbecue is. We only had four nights but alas, after two substantial barbecue meals we were brisket and pork ribbed out (clearly, we are in the minor leagues of bbq).
Our stay was just too short to really get a handle on the food scene. But I can say the architecture and the vibe in the city was terrific. A visit to Knuckleheads capped off the five days watching my childhood favourite Burton Cummings.
I know they’ve got all kinds of violent crime issues in Kansas City but from a photography perspective, it’s a place I would gladly go back to. Free public transportation in the city, clean streets and stunning and well maintained old buildings. And of course there’s the barbecue.
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A SPECIAL PLACE CALLED QUEST U
There’s lots of special places in this world, this post is about a special place called Quest University. Never heard of it? Join the club, not many have.
For the last four years my eldest son Maximilian has called Quest U home. Nestled in the foothills of Squamish, British Columbia, this is a special place indeed. Of course the surrounding mountainside and gorgeous architecture have something to do with it. But there’s more. Much more.
As a parent, you can only hope that your child will go to University and come back a man (or a women). I know that sounds a bit rich, but I’ve witnessed a transformation that was both breathtaking and beautiful.
Along the way Max figured out how to survive on his own; how to shop for food and cook (why ruin the nice story, so we won’t mention cleaning ;) but mostly how to survive on his own in the thousand little ways that requires.
So this story is about that, but it’s also about his education. About the mind expanding nature of a good old liberal art’s curriculum. I believe he’s the better person for it… job opportunities be damned (which by the way he’s done quite well with so far landing a two year Masters degree at the University of Waterloo in Mathematics along with a summertime internship with autonomoose).
But this story has many layers and maybe the best one of them all is about Three Friends. Maximilian, Claire and Kristophe. Three kids from three very different places (Toronto, ON, Breckenridge, CO, Hearst, ON) and backgrounds. Yet they came together at this special place to form a unique bond, living together for the last three years and becoming the very best of friends. I believe lifelong friends.
And finally this story is about the three friends and their incredible families, coming together over a few days in May to celebrate. To acknowledge their triumphs… to take their victory lap, because that’s what it was.
So a very big and hearty congratulations to these three awesome young people. And a very special thank you to Quest University for creating this magical kingdom that nurtured and cared for our children. We are in your debt.
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BABY ELLIOTT
It seems fitting that the first post on this new Squarespace website is dedicated to Elliott, my grand-nephew. There’s not much you can say about a new born. They’re cute and cuddly, and they need a whole boat load of time, energy, patience and love.
For sure Elliott chose the right parents for all of those needs. And I can confirm that Elliott has a very good set of lungs as well. Welcome to the world my dear boy.
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