Tag Archives: nyx

feast on this

dusty bluff


rattle snake alley
lined with thistles
exposed dirt
where feet had tread
fences cling
to the edge of cliffs

a hot summer day


hints of summer’s shadow

soon the leaves will fall
then the snow will follow
in gusts of swirling silence

coney

island




“hey do you girls want a paper bag for that beer?”

“um no, not really.”
he hands us a small sized bag from within his bag, identical to the one covering his tall boy of cours light.
“uh thank you,” i respond, covering up the same labeled can in my hand.
“you know that it is a 25 dollar ticket if you get stopped by the police with open beer?”
“wow that is like a deal where we come from.” jessica and i look at each other and nod in agreement.
we all sit on our benches and take a few sips looking out over the water. taking in its horizon.
“you know if you want to find an interesting time you could go down to the public court house. there is always a lot of action there. you don’t even need the ticket.”
“oh ya. i guess that is an idea,” i reply, looking over my shoulder at the tattooed russian hoodlums playing hand ball in cages, glistening with sweat. we sat there and finished our beers as night fell around us. i was quite happy where i was, this place was nutty enough for me.

hidden treasures





uncle denis is a celebrity in a certain part of the world. his eccentric lifestyle and dangerous sense of thrills have earned him many an article in the local news. but there are many other stories ones that no one hears, ones that warm your heart.
this pool in his backyard is hidden, lying dormant like a childhood dream. the water so thick with tadpoles and frogs that it hums and croaks with life. a creation inspired by both the savage and myth.

loaf more



local elementary students showcase their first pieces of stencil art in the derelict forest behind their school. the message is clear.

when i found these piles of abandoned junk tagged up with these motivational words i was so impressed that i was tempted to make a counter comment just to egg them on but i only got this far;
‘it may or may not happen’
‘do more or less sometimes’

can do




the water’s edge

beauty’s reflection in the glass of water

the magic that creates fairytales
the paired loons laugh, giggle
at our absurd paddle boat antics

out in the middle of nowhere



somewhere in mid-northern michigan while taking a supposed short cut we came across this lovely setting. it could be described as a road side mud clearing dotted with army trucks and about as many half bred buffalo/cattle (also known as either beefalo or cattalo) . i have only my little shreds of evidence and some theories as to what kind operation or militia might be gathering here. though admitably it did have a sort of futuristic apocalypse feel to it that i kind of liked, but also found disturbing. i would warn you to steer clear of it, but in reality i have no idea where it was or how to get back there.

light action

a comfort in the dark

Vagabond


in the midst of a journey it is easy to forgets where exactly you are going or where in fact home is. the world becomes a fantastical place filled with unbounded possibilities and newness. we collect souvenirs along the way in hopes of keeping a reminder of beauty that was discovered. sometimes these treasures are tokens such as rocks or feathers. sometimes they are memories of places or of kindness and sometimes they are artistic inspiration, an image or an idea. in this case it was an image to frame an idea;

‘homeless hottie, on the corner next to you.’

party time



If there is one thing that is a common sighting in Detroit, it is the ‘party store’. They are typically peppered into the landscape along clusters of abandoned commercial areas on larger roads. They are open from 7am until 2am, save a few exceptions; January 1st: open until 4am, December 24th: closed at midnight and Sundays they do not open until 12pm, as a consideration for church goers. You can often cash checks, buy liquor, cigarettes, lotto tickets and a variety of pops and junk food. They use an elaborate sign campaign to advertise their products, which I liked because many of them date back to the fifties.

The French Canadian version of a ‘party store’ (a term mostly used in the mid-west of the U.S.) is called a Depanneur. The translation of this word to English is “a repairer of breakdowns” or “troubleshoot.”

house for rent


stone wall


layers on layers

full reach rapunzel


the median


this lonely set of highway barriers is a particularly old and beautiful one. i immediately was drawn to them, they had a sort of ancient throne appeal. the common barrier that you would find on a highway (also known as a jersey barrier or k-rail in the more western states) was originally designed for the safety of pedestrians as well as the elimination of head on collisions but has had arguable impacts on the movement of animals. the jersey barrier has more recently been deployed in anti-terrorism plights due to the durability of their reinforced steel design. their advantage in battle is their moveable but semi-permanent nature. but i must ask the question of this need for separation, if the lines are ephemeral how does one know what side of the line one is standing on?

standing giants


steel skeletons exposed against the sky.
a perch for only the bravest of birds.
standing giants

crushed

the street hits back.

cross hatching


a linear representation of shadow

parallel lines crossing on an angle

edge of the pond

it is as if they were the beginnings of frogs emerging from some melted run off water, mere tadpoles with transforming bodies. a huddled mass of a new years hatch, fresh and anticipative for warmer months.

(read in Herzog’s voice)

been a long time, your clothes or mine?

mustard and chartreuse
wending your way
burgeoning feathers loose
goodbye, you say

the crossroads


why is it that strangers rarely if ever collide with one another? is it fear of proximity, intimacy? is it society’s ethics that drive us to comply to politeness or hurried steps?

or is it simply that we are on autopilot, our paths pre-determined in a complex maze of ties and steps?

highway prism


the turcot interchange was originally built as a “dramatic” display of montreal’s global position as a metropolis, yet it has become a crumbling problem. its design accommodated both ships and trains to pass underneath its expansive footprint and in this case, deviant youth.

broken glass

in the darkened belly of places left to sit
creatures become silhouettes against
the light of the whirlwind sun.
gaze they do out into the world
trapped by their own innards
and insecurity.

shopping cart pusher

we all have to make a living.

undercovers


untouched snow where green grass grows

rubbish bin

i got as close as i could. i thought that he might jump me. he has a little bit of that crack fox look, if you know what i mean. we were both out on a limb.

pigeon playground



rippled mirror

Echoes of attraction

extend out into the
mirror of space,
beauty’s symmetry.

last leg of the journey


ominous buildings conceal the snarl toothed beauty of nature.

high vis

civil servant art

outer body experience



lucid perch

moments fluttering with contemplation, self-reflection
images of escaping reality.
an attempt at being grounded
left as shadows cast upon the horizontal.

it comes to a point




not everything has to be right angles

perspective: when lines get fuzzy
all the way up there, one step at a time

sights set


“deceptive lizard”- Apatosaurus


Marsh, the inventor of the brontosaurus made a purposeful mistake. The bones for his creation were assembled from a head and a body found in separate quarries, as well as in different strata. Yet it remains one of the most complete skeletons ever exposed even to this day. A fabrication of magic and legend warming out hearts to the cold blooded building sized lizard.

One must study their prey before the hunt in order not to be deceived.

paper hearts


hairless bodies clamber within the corridors of their papery spit sack;

ever-expanding production to satisfy the tireless needs of their queen.
the systematic ticking of the gauge as it spins is
patterned with humming wings and scurrying feet.
sensing danger
reaction attack

the mirror’s eye

twinkle toes and stardust pressed on after the precipitous on slaughter. they fancied their gaze upon rainbows as ships finally sunk across a setting sun.

heart shaped snowflake

inspired by the massive amount of snow that had fallen and continued to fall we decided to go out into the night and try to capture some of it’s enchantment. out in the alley we attempted to get some action shots of jumping off dumpsters into the puffy blanket but all that produced was strange ghostly flashes. we did however manage to catch this magical moment. it arguably took all the chaos of the universe to procure this chance encounter.

priceless artifacts


here is to a beautiful boom-box.
an elegantly crafted piece of machinery.
an object capable of breaking it down or soothing the soul.
in some senses a slice of time itself.

an ant’s perspective


the corners we forgot
remembered with two blinks of an eye
i like looking at the ground because i am shy
but sometimes it is nice to look up at the sky

on the up and up


spiraling staircase
ascending levels
in fall time when
nature puts itself
to sleep

watchful eyes


blank stares

garbage post

over the last little while i have been developing this sort of theory that people are ok with garbage accumulating in certain places. maybe it is that they don’t really notice the piles or maybe it is the unwritten language of city, proper etiquette if you will. it seems partly due to the patterns of human behavior, the necessity of these neutral spots and there is definitely a location issue (slightly off the main street, tucked into a recess, never in someone’s front lawn). it seems that over time these spots become even more useful, somewhat like a reusing center but free, anonymous, ever changing; a reflection of the community itself.

keys and ladders

the logical use of a ladder is to reach higher space. the logical purpose of a key is to gain access to that which has been locked. but what they do have in common? = they are man made and therefore unnatural, in a sense pollution, garbage. but they sure are shiny.


the man who let us photograph the keys is a little bit hysterical, being portuguese, but he says the kids are always coming in asking to take pictures. the street art was done by toby xx on a multiple exposure.

in case you were looking for a little magic


Sheep, Goats, octopuses and toads all have rectangular pupils (although they appear as slightly oval due to the rounded nature of the eye). The evolution of how this came to be is an unsolved mystery but i guess it helps them evade all the predators who hunt them both night and day.