Friday Flickr Forum: December 29, 2006

hi Jerrold. thanks for including 'tenants' in the FFF.

Hi all, I am Martin Reis
The story behind the cheese and bones shot is that I was walking around Bloor and Ossington hunting for stencil art as I do daily when I spotted that on a telephone switching box.
I have been documenting street art in Toronto for years and recently started compiling the shots online on flickr and in other places. When I am not busy working on short film projects or riding my bike I spend much of my time with TLR Club, a photo club dedicated to urban archeology in Toronto.

Hey Melissa, who was this guy that scared the birds? Did he see the lady there?

"Christmas Spirit Drinks Alone" was captured just before xmas at the dark ol Green Room in the Annex.

I've spent a lot of time here over the last ten years, some huge events of my life happening right there under the dim candlelight surely enough, but still there is always something to photograph.

This moment appeared mid-evening -- a time when it's hard to find a table... and yet somehow people had vanished for a few moments, leaving only their coffees and belongings to toast the season. The spot in focus was already a lonely table for one... when the cup then got even lonelier, it had to be photographed.

Where/when was it taken?

I work near Yonge & College, and sometimes walk around the area with my camera at lunch. This was taken at a building complex in the area called The Village Green (I've been obsessed with The Kinks lately, so I was drawn in by the name!). The puddle was in a dried-out water fountain in front of the complex.

Is there a story within or about your photograph?

The title came from the idea of using a water reflection as a metaphor for memory, in the sense that memories can distort and/or vanish over time. In this case the partial "memory" is of an apartment building... the story beyond that is up to the viewer's imagination. ;)

Thanks for including this shot!

The woman in 'tenants' is a regular on the corner of Yonge + Davenport/Scollard. For the past few months I've observed her at the corner, minding her own business. She can often be found pushing a shopping cart, muttering away. She always comes to feed the birds. I've often wondered what her name is, but haven't been brave enough to ask, yet. Hadn't pulled out my camera either, though I was often tempted

One day as I was walking south on Yonge St, an adult male ran up behind me and then through the pigeons that she was feeding. He laughed as he ran. He laughed as the birds scattered. He laughed as she swore at him. It was senseless. The street was crowded that day - MTV staffers were streaming down the street on their lunch breaks. There were a few loud comments of dismay from them too.

In the aftermath of that clamour, I snapped 'tenants'...the combination of the birds, woman, and ads had always been interesting but the moment to do it was then. She was there again today when I went for lunch. Feeding the birds.