So, contrary to our plans, we did *not* make it Almonte yesterday.

Snow began accumulating overnight and did not stop until the following night. Seeing it fall yesterday morning, however magical it was, we quickly grew uncertain whether or not the roads would be alright. Knowing that our rental car would not have winter tires (that’s a special request), we decided to postpone the 45-minute drive until next weekend.

Fortunately, we did have other plans!

Ever since Kathleen told me about it back in the summer, I have been *very* much looking forward to seeing “Camera and the City“, a photography exhibit at the National Gallery featuring all sorts of photos made in, of, and around cities. Given the sorts of photograph that I like to make, there was no way we’d be missing it!

With a new plan settled, we got ourselves all bundled up and set off on the short trudge to the Gallery. After brushing the snow that accumulated after the 25-minute walk from our toques, shoulders, and in our hair, we purchased our admission, checked our coats, and entered the gallery.

The first exhibit we visited was called “Winter Count: Embracing the Cold“, a wide-ranging collection of art that deals with, well, winter. Timely, we found ourselves really drawn in by many of the works. It might be a little vanilla of me, but there was a set of three snowy paintings from the nineteenth century by __________________ (an artist whose name escapes me), in which the cool tones of winter light were translated into their paint colours, and it all very much reminded me of earlier colour film.

A little chilled by what we had just seen, we made our way up to the second floor of the gallery space, where Camera and the City was being shown.

The exhibit was just about everything I was hoping for and there were enough standout photos that it’s a challenge to shine the spotlight on them individually here.

Fortunately, I don’t have to!

As we were in the last room of the exhibit, we had noticed that there were a few chairs set up and people beginning to gather. Noticing, but paying no real attention, we continued to appreciate the dozen-or-so remaining works in the exhibit. It was at that point where a member of the Gallery’s staff approached us to let us know that two of the artists were present and just about ready for a question-and-answer session!

Of course we said “yes, sure, that would be lovely”, finished appreciating the remaining photos, and took our seats.

And my gosh, wouldn’t you know it, but the session, which was hosted by one of the exhibit’s curators, was so engaging! The photographers were June Clark (based in Toronto) and Clara Gutsche (based on Montreal), whose photos in the exhibit I did very much appreciate, and sharing their stories, approaches, and techniques made everything just resonate so much more.

While they were speaking, Kathleen kept shooting me looks because so many of the topics were things we have talked about so much at home! A preference for using film, a passion for cities and the city experience, and so much more.

Once it was finished, we both walked out of the exhibit space all mossy and I think I was on a bit of a cloud. And inspired too. We slowly made our way back down to the entrance to retrieve our coats and to head out for lunch.

More on that in tomorrow’s post.

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