TA Wall & Factory Jan 2012

Although it wasn't my first mission to the wall and factory this year, I thought that I would get at least some pics up of the spot. These are from last Friday. I finished up at work and decided to pass through the area. I didn't have my regular gear on me, just this new Nikon digital I picked up over the holidays. It's a bit of a throw back to when I first started out with my little Olympus digital (ahhh the memories...). I much prefer my T1i, naturally, but this little digital certainly got the job done. So forgive me if some of the shots are crystal clear. The battery died on me shortly after getting into the factory but I was able to squeeze out about thirty or so solid pics, including a couple of pans.

I love the factory during the winter, snow drifts pile up under the broken in sky lights, paint cans, bricks, and other refuse are half solidified in the iced up floors, and giant deformed stalactites of ice grow from the squared water drainage holes from the ceiling. This place feels the most like a sanctuary during the winter months, insulated from the cold winds and precipitation outside the factory provides a relatively safe and quiet spot to paint. The frozen state of the flooring keeps the cans and other trash from being kicked about and making any noise whatsoever leaving you with only the sound of crunching snow and ice beneath your feet as your navigate the interior.

Hope you enjoyed these latest shots, I got more coming so stay posted.

Turcot and the VilleMarie: Nov 2011

This past weekend I took a quick trip through Turcot and the along the Ville-Marie and then through the TA Wall and Factory. My main mission was to catch a big Jays roller along the Ville-Marie facing into Turcot yards but I caught a few more hits along the way. It was nice to get back into and around Turcot again, as I had not been through the yards in over a year since they locked it all up and began enforcing more stringent security measures to keep people out.  Walking along the side spot next to the Ville-Marie still drummed up some nostalgia though and I found myself chilling out a bit to take it all in again. Sadly, although there was some new and old hits along the wall leading to Decarie, Turcot in general is pretty dead, buffed, and washed out.

Looking over the yards from the vantage point of where the roller was, I sat back and watched as construction workers buzzed about repairing and maintaining the dilapidated and aged body of Turcot Interchange. I got into Turcot only around 2004, but man was it nice back then. All the way up to a couple of years ago you could walk through the yards and check out plenty of new pieces by just about any local writer. I spent hours covering Turcot every time I went in, whatever the season, day or night (I still kick myself over never having got any big spanning shots of the yards when they were in full effect). It's a shame that it's a dead spot now, but hey, not like it's the safest spot to be stomping about anymore considering the condition of the structure as of late. It was nice to see that the upper wall in the back is still active to some degree though and probably will be for some time to come.

I like big rollers, like the one I caught some flicks of  in NDG the week before that Gesa and Raskoe (see below) put up not too long ago. And this was a pretty big one for sure, whole wall, top to bottom, and in a prime spot. I took plenty of pics, but here are a few of the best ones I think I got. I like the Turcot roller more than the one I caught in NDG, though it was in a pretty prime spot too, but this one has 'the spot' for this area and was a nice ode to Jays style too. I also tossed in a couple of pics of a Sake and Aper spot along the Ville-Marie I snapped at some point along the way too, great spot, but a SUPER pain in the ass to get a shot of being where it was.

TA was pretty busy when I passed through, lots of kids running about the wall area and factory mucking about. Bank and Castro were just finishing up a Jays tribute on the lower wall so I decided to chill out a bit. It was nice to catch up with them and always a pleasure to watch a couple of solid Montreal writers do their work. Besides that I took a trip through the factory and exited through the upper wall area. Besides a weird paste in the factory and a sweet production on the way out there wasn't much too new there.

All-in-all a productive mission for sure. Good to see some folks along the way too. Stay posted as Vanhorne pics coming soon, and tonnes from the streets.