Crazy/Beautiful

A long time ago I saw Crazy/Beautiful. A teenage love story for sure. What struck me the most in the movie was how the main character used her camera. She took it everywhere and then surrounded herself with snapshots of everyday life. She was so free with the camera. No lighting set-ups. No props. No arrangements. She took a lot of chances taking pictures and she would often turn the camera on herself. Taking the pictures wasn’t the precious part. It was grouping them later that made them matter.

I love this idea of freedom but the control freak in me was always terrified of it. Terrified that it wouldn’t work out just as I had imagined. The more pictures I take, the more I realize that it’s in capturing the accidents that the essence of the subject truly shines.

Yesterday, while Agatha and I were taking a mundane trip downtown on the streetcar, we decided to have a little bit of fun. We started taking pictures of ourselves and laughing ourselves silly, much to the annoyance or delight of the other passengers (it was hard to tell). After a bit, I let Agatha have the camera. That kid is such a ham that she easily took the best picture of the day. Maybe it’s because she’s a ham or maybe it’s because she doesn’t have a control freak telling her what to do all the time.

Freedom. You are a beautiful thing.

On the Streetcar. Taken by Agatha.

Everything Smells Like Food

All five of us are driving down the highway today. As we were bouncing along, a horrible sulpher smell invaded the car. I must have smelled it first. I turned to Brad and wrinkled up my nose. I could see the wave hit him as he, in turn, wrinkled his nose. Almost immediately Emily and Geneva pipe up with a chorus of eeeewwwww, yyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuukkkk. Agatha’s sweet voice drifts into the mix. Her reaction is completely different from everyone else’s. She makes a long soft sigh. One that you would associate with food. I guess it was more of a hum and then says, “Yum. Eggs.”

Jill Barber

Brad and I just had our 16th anniversary. Sixteenth!

In honour of the occasion, we asked my mom to watch the girls (saint that she is, she agreed), got dressed up, I threw on some jewellery, Brad splashed on some cologne and we went to see Jill Barber at the Centre in the Square. She has a singularly fabulous voice. I could (and do) listen for hours. Not only is she a great singer, she is a great entertainer. She was funny, she told great stories and she mingled with the crowd. We were so sad to see it end.

The venue was also great. Being in a theatre designed for music, the sound was amazing. It was also presented a little differently. As part of the OnStage Series we weren’t out in the normal seats. They set up a bar on either end of the stage with a sea of tables inbetween. The band was set up on the very edge of the stage between all of the tables and the normal seating. The result was such a relaxed and intimate setting. They didn’t have a dance floor but maybe they should do that next time. Her music would be ideal.

If the next 16 years were as good as the last, we should be in for a treat. Happy Anniversary, Brad.

Getting Lost

Nissan Figaro, London. Taken by Brad.

When I was in college I would sometimes go for a drive in my car, the infamous Belle. It wasn’t just a drive but I also wasn’t going anywhere. The point was actually to go nowhere. To drive and turn new corners and pass new houses until I was lost. It would feel like a trip to nowhere. It was just a couple of hours but it was an adventure I could take by myself. There was nobody there to hold me accountable for taking a wrong turn. There was nobody there to exchange small talk with. There was just nobody. Nobody in the car and nowhere else, either. For those few hours I was completely anonymous. Nobody knew where I was and anyone who did see me didn’t know who I was. I never wanted it to last but once in a while it was the perfect escape. I might need to take another one of those trips sometime soon. I kind of miss them.

Unravelling

I have been avoiding my camera for the last couple of years. It was a gradual change. I just picked it up less and less until I simply didn’t pick it up at all. Looking back, I don’t have much to show for this lack of enthusiasm. No pictures of birthdays or runs through the sprinkler or toothy grins. Nothing.

I wanted to fix this but I needed a little pat on the back, a little kick in the pants. I signed up for an e-course given by the talented Susannah Conway in the hopes of getting back into the groove. I was so happy when I already had more pictures after one week than I had for all of last year. The girls like to call it my “photography club” and in a lot of ways that title suits it better. People are sharing their photos and comments and it’s so interesting to see how different everyone’s life is when it’s seen through the same plain little square at the back of a camera.

I know that I’m going to have a lot more fun in the next seven weeks and I’ll have memories in the form of photographs to show for it but from where I stand right now, the course has already given me more than I was hoping it would.