One billion seconds is 31.69 years or a little more than 11,574 days. In the context of a human lifespan, I will personally cross the one billion second threshold around dinner time on May 2nd, 2021. Jean Calment holds the record for individual longevity, clocking in at an impressive 3.86 billion seconds of life. To put that in context, Calment's lifespan covers more than 1% of the total longevity of human civilization, which has been around for roughly 378 billion seconds.
Industry, As Far as the Eye Can See
Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing #18 (Cankun Factory, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, 2005)
Canadian art photographer Edward Burtynsky is my greatest influence in terms of landscape photography. I love the balanced framing of intense industrialization, and how he is able to present the brutal destruction of the natural world in a way that is aesthetically appealing, and even beautiful.
My collection of Canadian landscape photography attempts to immitate his work, on a more humble and local scale. You can view the collection by clicking here.
Drawing My Face with Crayon
Last week I bought a 24-pack of crayons from Target for $1.49. Since then, I’ve discovered that drawing faces with colored wax is pretty awesome.
Breezes About Kitchener
In 1916, after much controversy, Berlin, Ontario, Canada (my hometown) was re-named Kitchener as a result of anti-German sentiment during the First World War. A revision was necessary to the popular title of the city’s souvenir pamphlet 'Breezes About Berlin'. Rather than rework the name of the pamphlet (Kicking Around Kitchener?) city leadership decided to simply create stickers that could be placed over the old phrase.
The decision was emblematic of Kitchener's municipal decision-making over the next century, which tended to be ad-hoc, shortsighted, and to the detriment of any coherent cultural identity.
