To follow through on this numerical word play, now is the time to look back over the previous year with a critical eye and present to you my favorite images of 2019.
This was my first full year as a Nova Scotia resident so i mark its completion as a major milestone. I have been documenting the South Shore for almost two decades now, but nothing compares to actually living in a place 24/7/365. That isn't to say i necessarily believe i have created my very best work over the last 12 months. After all, i have a rather large catalog of Nova Scotia images dating back to 2000 to draw from in that context. Though what i have discovered over the past year is an ever evolving clarity of vision that perhaps only develops when one is completely immersed in a particular environment for continuous periods of time. I've been eating, drinking and breathing Nova Scotia for the past 15 months and yes, it has quite literally gotten into my blood. Surely it has also affected the way i see and express myself visually.
I am, however, still struggling to find my photographic career in the Maritimes. I've been doing regular freelance for LighthouseNOW (local weekly) and have been fortunate to find work with Communications Nova Scotia (CNS) shooting PR assignments for the Province. Some of that newspaper work made it into this year end review. I would have included some of the government work here as well, but those images are not fully under my copyright control so i thought best to leave them out. I also did some environmental portraits and writing for NOW Lunenburg County, a non-profit that promotes the area hoping to attract potential new residents. It's been a good start, but certainly has yet to grow into the sustainable career i had going in Cincinnati. But having a light "professional" schedule has given me quite a lot of "free time" to explore my new hood just photographing whatever meets my fancy. Certainly this is not a good model for a "career", but i do hope to find more ways in the coming year to generate some revenue from this more personal work. Right now it only feeds my soul, but the potential to market this work remains untapped at the moment.
Why then did i title this post as the First Year (of the rest of my life)? My time here on this planet has, for some reason, broken down pretty equally into 20 year periods of regional habitation. I spent my first two decades living a suburban life on Long Island, NY. The next 20 years found me that great metropolis New York City, were i adopted a hardcore urban lifestyle. From there i made the move to the midwestern state of Ohio were i spend my next 20 years in a much more laidback urban setting (though most of that time spent with an eye firmly fixed northward). Finally i have arrived in rural Nova Scotia and while i am hopeful for a bit more than just 20 years before i pass from this plane, i feel like this is my last major move. I am finally home!
From a purely aesthetic standpoint i am not convinced this is the best image to open this review, but it is at least chronologically correct. January is the heart of lobster season here on the South Shore and we have an annual tradition with my wife's family of celebrating my father-in-law's birthday with a sumptuous dinner of these rather tasty sea bugs. Since we now live just down the road from the fisherman who has always supplied this particular feast it now falls upon my wife and i to pick up the main event fixings for that evening meal. Is there any food that is more Nova Scotian?
So let's get this party started!
(please click on images for an enlarged gallery view)
Risser's Razor
Quahog & the Crab
Morning on the LaHave Ferry
Frozen Apple
The Old Swing Tree (lost to Dorian)
Pavia, Halifax
Tide Patterns
Shaving the Sun
Crab Totem
The LaHave Ferry is an important part of life for us around these parts, especially since my wife's parents live on the opposite shore, so i spend a fair bit of time on it, photographing both the ferry itself as well as the views seen from it.
The ferry even presented a spot news opportunity for me when its bull wheel cracked on a cold, blustery February day, stranding passengers and crew mid-river for 6 long hours.
Here are a few iPhoto moments. Though i do try to aways have a camera with me, sometimes the cellphone is all that is at hand. And as so many folks have noted in the past, the very best camera is the one you have with you at the time. I actually have much more iPhonography i could have presented here, but as usual i have been a bit lazy about downloading them off my phone. So i may add a few more if i can get around to it in the near future.
I suppose i couldn't rightfully call myself a Canadian photographer if i didn't shoot at least one hockey game last year...so i did! LOL! Here are a few highlights from last years Gary L. Wentzell March Break Tournament in Bridgewater.
Super Moon Rise, Artie's Cove
I had a wonderful opportunity to follow the Bluenose, Picton Castle and Pride of Baltimore all leaving Lunenburg Harbour at the same time for a summer of Tall Ships events on the Great Lakes. There is nothing like getting onto the water along with these awesome boats for a couple of hours.
Seal Jaw
Seaweed & Jelly Sandwich
Pattern Recognition
Assorted Jellies
Finding Parrsboro
The Helly Hansen Chester Race Week provided another opportunity for me to get out on the water for a few hours surrounded by sailboats. Aaaaah!
My buddy Brock, a life-long Maritimer, once jokingly mused that "Nova Scotia is great, but the sunsets sure do suck!"
Frankly i see far too many sunset photos on pages dedicated to these parts, but the damn things do keep presenting themselves. LOL! So here are a few of my favorites from the past year.
St. John's Evangelist Anglican Church
St. John's Evangelist Anglican Church
No matter how beautiful any place might be, the heart and soul of it can be always be found reflected in the faces of the people who occupy that space. Here are a few of the folks i have encountered here in the past year.
Andrea & Imogen
Anne Morison winds a bobbin at the Knaut-Rhuland House Museum.
Ferryman Corey Lorman
Red Seal contractor Ronnie Hatt
Brock
Steffan, Imogen & Ezra
Dylan
Bronwen
Redheads_01
Redheads_02
The General (Privateer Day, Liverpool)
Mother & Child (Privateer Day, Liverpool)
Artist Mark Andrews
I attended my first Ox Pull this summer. I wasn't fully prepared to give it the serious coverage it deserved, but saw enough to know that i would be back in the future.
And while we are on the subject of animal husbandry, i came face-to-face with Misty, a runaway mare, as she made a somewhat frightening run for freedom down the middle of Highway 103 near Hebb's Cross. It was certainly a surprising moment that made for a good spot news feature photo. Fortunately i was in the unusual position that day as a passenger in the vehicle so i was able to snap a few frames as the horse sped by.
Hurricane Dorian hit the South Shore pretty hard on September 7th leaving downed trees and no power for the next week in her wake.
Waves crash on Risser's Beach during Dorian.
Early the morning after Dorian the sun breaks hopefully through the clouds.
As with the year previous i photographed Remembrance Day services for LighthouseNOW, this time in the town of Bridgewater.
Thanks for looking!
Again i'd like to wish everyone the best for the coming new year. I see it as potentially being a very important one not only for me personally, but for the entire world at large. Let's make it the best year it can possibly be...and don't forget to vote!
All Photos ©David Sorcher 2019
All Rights Reserved
