Frankenstein-ian..

Dreamin' 

Debrief...

Just finished the first two days in the lab with some successes and some surprises. Day one (or night one) I did my first real test with the camera and flash set up which was pretty interesting.  It's possible to track the moment my brain waves indicate that I am falling asleep and so at this point, the camera is triggered and the flash is fired. Now, here's the part I wasn't prepared for= it scared THE CRAP out of me. It woke me up which I suppose was good, but..yeesh. Phrases that come to mind are "Scared the living daylights" or the phrase I thought of all day yesterday which was, "It scared the Be'Jesus outta me!" Seriously. Those strobes almost blasted me into another dimension. I have not been so instantaneously alarmed in, well, I don't know if I ever have. It was a bit hard falling asleep after that as I had a major adrenaline rush. I did remember what I was dreaming though so that was good. I have to muck about with the system a bit because I want to try it again (something I wasn't so convinced of yesterday- it took awhile for the memory of that experience to fade), but I think it's worth  it even if it ends up being only a few pictures. Last night, being awakened by sound effects was a piece of cake in comparison and I slept like a baby. Today I'm feeling much better and not half as anxious as yesterday where I repeatedly had visions of the strobes surprising me throughout the day. Today- yoga, laundry and applications for exhibitions.

Morning musings

The view from bed.

Road photos etc.

A couple of pictures from the travel out east. Ford's Drive-In from Great Falls, Devil's Tower in Wyoming (more culturally appropriate title is Bear's Tipi or Bear's Lodge) and this creepy looking house from northern Ontario. It looks haunted to me! Off to the lab today to do more tests in preparation for the photos. 

Montreal

I made it to Montreal and so far- it's great. Here's a picture of the room I am renting for the next month and a bit. It's an amazing place and outfitted in the era it was built- perfect for a nostalgia freak like me!! It's also above this neat place that makes custom boots- I think I'm going to get a pair while I'm here. The only challenging bit is the creative parking scenario... This isn't Banff where parking is free. Minor details!

Meera Margaret Singh

Hey check out my friend Meera's new website!! A very talented lady I must say!

www.meeramargaretsingh.com

She also had an opening yesterday which I missed (sadly) but will check out when I get to Montreal either today or tomorrow!

Miles versus kilometers

How come miles take so much longer than kilometers? (Other than the obvious point that they are longer). At least this is my perception  because I am only in Minnesota right now- after 2.5 days of driving. hm.

Saw Devil's Tower this morning and people climbing up it- I wish I was climbing up it! It looked cool. I bought the book with the description of the routes... Another thing on the  list I guess.

I'm always happily surprised with how beautiful this country is. I mean, I know it's beautiful, but it's nice to be reminded. I've never been through this part before and was interested in all the history- Wounded Knee, the Black Hills, even the strangeness of Mount Rushmore (though I didn't drive to see it, the idea of carving a mountain out into heads always seems a bit bizarre- no offence). Many tunes later I am in Minnesota- hoping to make it to Canada tomorrow via the  Mackinaw bridge which I think is the way Lisa, Brent and I travelled in 1999. Maybe it won't be as windy.

Great Falls, Montana

Just pulled into Great Falls, Montana and have set up camp at Dick's RV camp. Many pawn shops, casinos and payday loan places. I saw the coffee shop that Erika and I stopped at in 2006, post Indian Creek. Already  took advantage of a photo opportunity when I spotted a retro sign for "Ford's Drive- In" just off the I-15. Excited to be on the road but am kind of missing my old dog Max who travelled with me the first time I travelled in the States  alone, back in 1999 . Max may have had some emotional problems but I was felt safe because he was liable to attack anyone who threatened me. I often worried about lawsuits however..Anyways, the RV campground has wi-fi, so I can e-mail while tenting. Weird.

Vending Machine

This vending machine is owned by a distant cousin of mine in Iceland. It's powered by solar and wind power and is monitored by web cam (to protect from vandalism). Inside is an average, everyday vending machine and yes, it's in the middle of nowhere. I love this thing.

The Road

I'm kind of on this kick where I trying to find and photograph dead end roads- particularly ones where nature has reclaimed the territory. 

Hmm..that wasn't there last night

Last week, two of my friends and I embarked on an adventure into the wilderness beginning from the Dave Thompson Highway, down White Rabbit creek and into the northern reaches of Banff National Park. Our first night of camping was on White Rabbit Creek, about a 20km hike in from the highway. We found a good spot on a gravel sandbar in the middle of the stream. When we woke up we found that we had been checked out by a rather large black bear in the middle of the night. This print was less than 10 metres from the tent. Funnily enough, all of us felt comforted by this fact; the bear didn't find us that interesting and moved on without bothering us. Of course, it's kind of an odd feeling finding a footprint like this really close to one's tent. We were pretty diligent with the bear calls..

Polaroid Pos/neg Pinhole Pictures

Did I mention I shot a lot of film in Iceland?! Good lord! Here's some more that are kind of growing on me though I'm not sure if they're looking too artsy with the Polaroid edge. The Icebergs are in Jokulsarlon- the glacial pool where parts of Vatnajokull calve off and travel off to sea. Pretty spectacular place really. The whole south coast was a stunning place.

Indian Creek in Iceland

This was one of the formations that I saw that looked so much like the desert that I had to stop and take a picture. It was massive though- i think higher than a lot of the walls in Indian Creek. It's deceptive because in Iceland it was so hard to grasp a sense of scale. Things that looked big weren't so so big and things that seemed small from far away were humungous upon closer inspection. I've got to go back there!

Iceland pictures revisited

Finally feel like I may be making headway through the piles of celluloid carnage I produced whilst in Iceland. It seems like the common threads are images that refer to stillness, oddness and perhaps reflect my feelings of foreign-ness as I searched for familiarity. Here are a couple that I think make the cut critically speaking..