If there is a singular group that I had a clue about going deep into this project, that group would be the Family Compact. And how you view them relies on your view of Canadian History. To some they are the antagonist of this particular branch of Canadian history, to others, they represent Canadian loyalty to the British Crown in the rebellions. But for me, they now stand as the opposite side of the same coin during the Upper Canada Rebellion. The Compact represented the colonial elite, the new ruling class. They controlled every aspect, every part of the government, the law, and the church.Read More →

In Post-War British North America, the British authorities took a two-pronged approach to the defences of their North American holdings. The first through a series of upgrades to the defensive forts along the border and the bolstering of the British garrisons, the second would be to prevent another war through a series of negotiated agreements and treaties. The idea would be to shore up the start of better relationships and fill in the gaps left by the Treaty of Gent. If you have read the Treaty of Ghent and understand its context you’ll quickly realise Ghent could not be the final say for normal relationsRead More →

While I have of late focused more on British personalities in the War of 1812, I will be making an effort to balance it out. James Lawrence is a tragic tale of the war. He was born 1 October 1781 in Burlington, New Jersey. The young James was, for a majority of his youth raised in nearby Woodbury and grew up for the most part without his parents. His mother passed away while he was an infant and his father, a Loyalist to the British Crown, fled to Upper Canada, leaving James behind to be raised by his half-sister. James originally planned to become aRead More →

Fur Trader, Loyalist, Indian Agent, and Officer. William McKay was born in the Mohawk Valley of New York State in 1772. The son of former Non-Commissioned Officer Donald McKay. His father had seen service during the French-Indian War and fought during the assault on Quebec City. Remaining loyal to the crown the family moved to Upper Canada’s St. Lawerence Valley during the American Revolution settling in what would become Glengarry County in Ontario. William and his older brother, Alexander, joined the North West Company in 1790. McKay would begin to trade throughout the northwest of British North America spending much of his time in theRead More →

Well that’s it for the sheet a week project, and honestly it was fun! My love of 4×5 never wavered nor my love of Tri-X! And while next year I’m going to be exploring more of the Ilford Line of film, major projects will be done on Tri-X because really, you can’t fuck this film up unless you do something disastrous! Anyways, onto my top ten shots from the past fifty-two weeks! 1. Week 5 – The Lone Tree 2. Week 38 – The Starfighter 3. Week 22 – Courts of Commerce 4. Week 23 – Overlord 5. Week 26 – Among the Crosses 6.Read More →

Ending off the year on a quiet note. I always make a point after the business of the holiday season to take a breather, go out for a drive and practice photography. I had been passing by this particular house going to my Opa’s place and always wanted to capture it. So I took the chance and headed out on Boxing Day. Thankfully the roads were quiet that I could easily slip onto and off the property without anyone paying too close attention. I’m glad I did, as a few days later, the entire place was gone, burned in a fire. Pacemaker Crown Graphic –Read More →

The malls have been playing Christmas carols since the end of November. Today I heard a Boxing day commercial on the radio. Yep, it’s that time of year again, Christmas! I had initially planned to get an exterior shot of my home church, but after checking what the exposure should be (metered for 4 minutes), then compensated for reciprocity failure (the more a film is exposed to light, the less sensitive to light it becomes, and tri-x has terrible reciprocity) and the app spat out 52 minutes. I love photography and tri-x, but standing outside at 8:45 pm on the main street in the snowRead More →

It wouldn’t be a 52-project from me without something from Findlay! Anyone who has attended a Film Photography Project meetup in lovely downtown Findlay, Ohio, will immediately recognize this beautiful building. The Hancock County Courthouse was constructed between 1886 and 1888 to replace an older brick structure that once sat on the same site. This came about when Findlay was decided to be the seat of Hancock county. Constructed in three styles, Palladium, Victorian, and a favourite of mine, Richardson Romanesque, the building certainly strikes anyone who visits the downtown. If you get a chance or are driving past, stop by. The Irish pub isRead More →

Oddly enough one of my other hobbies has managed to avoid this project, that of exploring abandoned buildings. Week 49, I was down in Cincinnati for the fourth annual Very Cincinnati Christmas event. The opening location was the former First German Reformed Church. Completed in 1850 in the mainly German-American west end of the city, the church thrived until changes swept across the nation in the 1960s, and the congregation sold their beautiful limestone and brick building. A new church worshipped there; the Freeman Avenue United Church lasted from 1970 to 1975 before closing its doors. The building, like many abandoned for decades, changed handsRead More →

So the rather odd title comes from a story a friend tells of a D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) match where one of the players doesn’t know what a Gazebo is and proceeds to think it is a mystical creature, the DM (Dungeon Master) fed up by the player informs him that the Gazebo comes awake and kills him. Don’t worry; this gazebo is asleep and hasn’t been pushed into action. Yet. But after several weeks of wanderings, I’ve come back home here for week 48 and the gazebo that sits out over the Mill Pond. Also, this is where the town of Milton originally sprungRead More →