TBT #20: My Favourite Photos

In honour of the new ‘photo’ section (Which will be — once I have finished it — basically the /kings page, but less blue) this week’s column will be devoted to photographic nostalgia. Over the past few weeks (or, more accurately, minutes) I have browsed through my vast collection of pictures — two and a half years worth –, from beginning to end. I have done this for two reasons, both of equal importance. Firstly, I wanted to be able to present to you a collection of my five favourite photos. Secondly, I wanted to write a column that wouldn’t force me to type too much. I believe I have succeeded.

These five pictures are the Best Things Ever for December 10, 2004.

All of these pictures were taken with a crappy digital camera. Or, more accurately, one of two crappy digital cameras. The first crappy digital camera (Or CDC for short) was given to me for my birthday, my first year at university. It was a Creative PC-CAM, which functioned as both a webcam and a standalone digital camera. I guess my parents wanted me to take pictures for them and such. I never really thought I’d use it much, especially since at that point in the school year (mid-October or so) I had already developed a solid reputation as a guy who never left his dorm room. It may not have been the most glamorous of reputations, but it was something, and I was doing my best to hold onto it.

Unfortunately for me, not long after I brought the camera to Halifax, I suddenly found myself flying about campus like some sort of social butterfly. The camera saw immediate use, at parties and just around the dorm room, taking pictures of drunken antics, nefarious schemes and, well, enduring friendship.

The camera itself took quite the beating, falling down flights of stairs, being dropped repeatedly and requiring several rounds of duct-tape surgery before it finally broke for good. Not content to stop with the picture taking, however, I ended up buying yet another Crappy Digital Camera (once again a Creative PC-CAM, but this time a newer model with a LCD!) and kept going with the picture taking.

The following pictures aren’t necessarily the best or funniest pictures, but rather the pictures I thought best defined my time spent at university thus far. I tried to focus on the big events — the turning points — rather than the various drunken parties. The pictures aren’t presented in any particular order, because that would take too much time.

Ditko-esque

Taken earlier this year, this picture of my roommate Michael Weir dressed as the Marvel superhero Spider-Man is important to me because I love Spider-Man more than I love the thought of heaven, or even bumper cars. Mike’s youthful enthusiasm — best exhibited when he ran out of his room, in costume, yelling ‘this is awesome!’ — inspires all of us to be better people. I can safely say that were Mike tied to railroad tracks, I would untie him without even a thought. He means that much to me.

Unbelievably, snow

Last year, in late February, about a metre of snow was quite literally dropped — all at once — onto Halifax, Nova Scotia. The result was something resembling Hell. Only, you know, colder and with sledding and hot chocolate. Not only was my flight home for reading week delayed, but the powers-that-be also saw fit to impose a 10 p.m. curfew on Halifax citizens in order to simplify the snow removal process. The picture above shows us walking the streets of downtown Halifax a couple of days after the storm. We didn’t break the curfew, but we would have, if anything good was going on.

Citizen Hurricane

Continuing with the disaster theme, roughly six months before Halifax was hit with a deluge of snow, it was hit with a massive hurricane. I cannot be bothered to look up any of the specifics, so let’s just say it was a category 7F Hurricane, which means it was very big and knocked down trees and smashed cars and cancelled class for a week! I’m sure it’s nothing like what the people in Florida experienced earlier this year when they apparently angered God, but it was the first hurricane I had ever been through, and walking around afterwards, through downed trees and over concrete sidewalks that had been ripped from the ground, I couldn’t help but think how fucking cool nature is. You know how long it would take a team of humans to cause that much damage? Days and weeks! You know how long it took nature to do it? Three hours! In the war of man vs. nature, man is losing. I don’t really know what the environmentalists are worried about.

Iconic You

In first year, my roommate was a guy named John William Blakeley. At first I was kind of worried because he seemed to be locked in a constant state of depression and rage. Soon, though, I learned that my roommate was really one hell of a guy. As funny, good natured, easy-going and impish as a roommate can be. We had many adventures involving, well, sitting around, mostly. And eating. Lots of eating. This photo was taken near the end of first year — unfortunately John William’s only year at this school — and it’s one of my favourites just because it looks really cool. It was actually our good friend Peter Smallwood’s last night in the city. We stayed up all night waiting for him to finish his last paper and then took a late night/early morning trip to McDonalds for victory food. On the way back, we stopped by the gym so Pete could pick up his hockey equipment, and I took this picture.

Actually Going Outside

For some reason, the end of the school year always brings about really cool pictures. Not only is this picture taken in the daytime (Amazing!) it’s also taken in downtown Halifax (double amazing!). I know sunset shots are a bit cheesy, but I really like the sort of melancholy feeling this picture brings about, as my good buddies Rory and Kristine stare off into the distance wondering where the future will take them. At least, that’s what I assume they’re thinking about. It could be anything, really. I’m not a fucking mind reader, guys.

And that’s it. Those are my favourites. I know they’re not exactly Time Life-calibre shots, but they’re definitive, sort of, aren’t they? I look at these five events — the hurricane, the snowstorm, the end of first year, the end of second year and Mike dressed as Spider-Man — and I can’t help but feel these are moments that will, pictures or no pictures, stay with me for a long time. Though, come to think of it, the Spider-Man picture sort of feels out of place, doesn’t it? Not that it matters. I’m not changing it. It’s fucking cool. He’s dressed as Spider-Man!

As I finally get around to finishing the last couple of html-related things I want to do for the photos, hopefully we’ll start seeing more picture-filled updates, celebrating the fun-filled tsunami that is my life. And the weird-looking awkward mess that is me.

Waiting for the flash,
Matt