2006-05-31

TTC Strike

(No, you weren't.)

Monday, May 29 saw a one-day strike shut down the Toronto Transit Commission.
A short photo essay can be found on my other website.

2006-05-29

Bike Week - The Orange Rocket

ttc-orange-8331.jpg

To kick off bike week, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 threw an illegal one-day strike. Here, a reveler gets into the spirit of the festivities by getting good use out of the Spidina Avenue private right-of-way.

2006-05-24

Grimace

The Rail Lands, Toronto.

2006-05-22

The Light and the End of the Tunnel

The Sheppard subway and Leslie station.

2006-05-18

Merge #2

Variation on a theme.

2006-05-14

for Daniel Johnston

It's been over a year since I first noticed a song by Daniel Johnston, "Come See Me Tonight," which made its way onto my iPod via a compilation CD. It was distinctive, to put it nicely: harsh musicianship and vocal qualities that even I could match. I couldn't stop listening to it. There was a rawness and honesty to its longing unlike anything else I had heard.

Two albums later, and more in my future, I can say that I am a fan of this deeply troubled artist. If I could have the vision as a photographer that he has as a musician, I would be very satisfied with my work. But, if there was a deal with the devil and I would also have to take his illness, I would not.

Daniel Johnston resources on the web:

His official web site, Hi, How Are You?
His official fan site, Rejected Unknown
and a biography at Wikipedia

Currently - and briefly - playing in a few theaters is the documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." Sony has a website for the movie, with a lot of information and the theatrical trailer. The trailer is a fair representation of the movie, and provides an easy way to hear some of his music.

Enjoy!

2006-05-13

Missing

Reading the walls under the expressway.

2006-05-11

Campfire

Living conditions under the Bathurst street bridge, within a few hundred metres of two major condo developments.

2006-05-06

Heroin

Looking for a way out of this miserable place.

2006-05-05

Zeen

Hanging out where the kids are.

Abanonded brickworks outside of Toronto.

2006-05-01

Tiffany Falls

The water was still running, even though the waterfall was closed.

The lower falls of Tiffany Creek, Ancaster, Ontario

I have broken the links to hundreds and hundreds of photos, which will take a long time to repair. The workaround is to replace "photo.matthewpiers" in the link URL with "matthewpiers.smugmug". Awkward, but only temporary.

This is happening because I have revamped matthewpiers dot com. More of what I write and photograph will be going there, so check it out as well.

Older Photos by Month