Urban Chic

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I have a geeky fascination with urban landscapes. I love exploring new cities and the unique flavor that results when a large number of people have congregated to build on a commonality of work, recreation, love, family, or whatever it is people are looking for when they choose a place to live.

Natural landscapes are beautiful, but what interests me about urban landscapes is the very fact they are unnatural. As in, here's what we did to try to make our living space beautiful, or interesting, or functionally livable. I especially love cities where these various ideologies overlap, and sometimes, clash.

For example, Montreal is a Catholic settlement trying to be a world-class center of finance, business and artistic expression. The tensions tethering these different functionalities are expressed beautifully in the dichotomy of their architecture. It was a pleasure trying to capture the reflection of a centuries-old church spire in the sanitized glass of a modern business tower.

I get made fun of by friends for coming home from vacation with reels of pictures of buildings and snapshots of the eccentricities of the local urban culture. But the feeling of standing on a street corner, surrounded by the best, and worst, a city has to offer, swirling in chaos all around you? Exhilarating.

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