St. Emilion

Bordeaux, France

New York, New York

I recently got back from a trip to New York. I know this is not the most insightful or ground breaking comment ever made, but New York is an incredible city.

There are now three cities I have been to in my travels that I have arrived in and immediately said, "I could live here."

1. Vancouver, BC (my hometown, so I'm not sure if that counts)

2. Paris, France

3. New York, New York

This flag was hung above the couch at a bonfire/house party I went to in Brooklyn. I know it's not a particularly engaging photo, but I decided to post it for two reasons:

1. This is a phenomenon you don't see in Canada. I don't know a single recently graduated college student with a Canadian flag in their living room. In fact, I don't think I know a single person who owns a Canadian flag (a real flag- not one of those paper ones). Overt patriotism like you see in America always catches my attention.

2. It reminds me of Jasper Johns', Flag, (1954-55).

One may look at it and ask, how is this art? Johns didn't create a new visual for us to look at, he merely painted a picture of a flag. But like my photo, it's more about what this image embodies. I love the universality of this image. It's immediately recognizable, even outside of America. You don't need a degree in art history to know what this work is depicting. It is guaranteed to evoke a sense of something in anyone who recognizes it: pride, patriotism, maybe even distain. You can own a flag in the physical sense, but even if you do not actually posses one, as an American you still have a stake in it. I think that is just beautiful. And that is why I put my photograph of the flag in Gavin's living room up- because I think it represents exactly what Johns was getting at.

Grand Central. It's amazing that commuters get to walk through this gorgeous space everyday on their way to/from work.

This is taken from the Staten Island Ferry. In Canada, when you sell cheap alcohol on a boat we call it a booze cruise.

A couple weeks after I returned to Montreal I found out the ferry had a bit of a mechanical failure and crashed into the dock, injuring 37 people. Near death experience?

Art Deco. That's all I need to say.

I also recently picked up a Canon A1, so I'll post those pictures once I get the film developed (if, of course, there are any worth posting).