This photographic blog project explores the idea of blurred boundaries and reflects the nature of my own identity as a mixture of rural and urban influences. During this past Spring I repeatedly traveled to the “borderlands” of Calgary to explore regions where rural and urban living seem to overlap. With this project my goal is to inspire conversation around the idea of borderlands and to invite conversation about notions of identity, roots and “home”. Please add your comments and photos!
Where I grew up, on the outskirts of Calgary, we had a green mailbox at the end of our road. I still catch myself (once in while) writing my address as:
One looks at this photo - with the bleak background and seeming dreariness of winter in a rural Alberta landscape, and our eyes are drawn to the only source of colour and contrast in vastness of the open prairie....and you say to yourself...."what the hell? SEVENTY people actually live here!?". There are 70 mailboxes. I couldn't believe it! Who are these people and why on Earth would they want to live there? The mailboxes also hint at a sense of community in the last place that you would expect to find it. Is this a source of strength and a reassurance of the social nature of the human condition? It lends hope and possibilities to a scene that would otherwise tempt contempt!
Where I grew up, on the outskirts of Calgary, we had a green mailbox at the end of our road. I still catch myself (once in while) writing my address as:
ReplyDeleteBox 28, Site 7...
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ReplyDeleteOne looks at this photo - with the bleak background and seeming dreariness of winter in a rural Alberta landscape, and our eyes are drawn to the only source of colour and contrast in vastness of the open prairie....and you say to yourself...."what the hell? SEVENTY people actually live here!?". There are 70 mailboxes. I couldn't believe it! Who are these people and why on Earth would they want to live there? The mailboxes also hint at a sense of community in the last place that you would expect to find it. Is this a source of strength and a reassurance of the social nature of the human condition? It lends hope and possibilities to a scene that would otherwise tempt contempt!
ReplyDelete