darkpale

greetings from darkpale!

I post too much about the rural side of the urban/rural distinction, yet I am quite fond of the city. As Michael Franti chants in his tune ‘nature,’ “people are the best part of nature” and to quote The Burning Hell, “I Love The Things That People Make.”

boosted the darks, heightened the contrast, and used a B&W mask

Nothing says “you are in a city now” like well done graffiti. Of course there are patches of graffiti in rural towns, but it lacks the artfulness and is usually racist/sexist. This piece above is very clever because the concrete it is on runs east/west and emphatically declares “EA$T END [that way].” The money symbol suggests that if you have money, or want money, go back to the east end, and stay out of Parkdale. It is also tucked away under a train bridge, like the troll it is. The rail tracks are not only the border of Parkdale, but carry passengers all points east.

tried a few of these to get the right kind of focus, in the end I did little to the image in post

I like the framing of the fence on this one, but not a generic frame, a sticker. There is a treehouse in my backyard (concrete slab) that the neighbours made. This one reminded me of it. The idea of a canopy hideout to be amoungst the mighty maples as the city passes around you. I’m very interested in these places where people go to find reprieve from the constant visual drone of the city.

#nofilter

The aforementioned railtrack that delineates Parkdale from Brockton Village literally underlines the skyline. I know it is one of the most generic and common subjects of photography, the city skyline, but I never look at it and not marvel. I use this shot for everything. It requires some climbing to obtain, but like the beach at Rouge Hill, I find myself capturing the same image over and over, while always being stunned at the results.

again I heightened the darks and the shadows, I like the ominous feel

Again we see the cityline, but this time I took it through the fence. It makes me think of the exclusion of Parkdale, like we are fenced out of the rest of Toronto. Traditionally a place where the mentally ill and new immigrants were kept.

a bit saturated to emphasise the sky, but the colours on the building are how I remembered they actually looked

Parkdale looking out. A view of the Gladstone Hotel from my perch on the railbed. I did not mean to have the theme of ‘Parkdale looking out’ crop up in my images, but you can see most of Toronto’s infrastructure so well from the relatively unpillaged ground-level homes in Parkdale. Here is a place that has still managed to keep the condo out.

Thanks for the optic synapse firings.