Streets April 2013

Took a trip through the Griff the other week to check out some old haunts. With all the construction going on in the area I was curious to see what kind of activity there has been on the walls below Notre-Dame. And as it appears there is not much happening east of Guy, but I was able to flick a few shots here and there. At least five new condo complexes are going up in the area, the towering silhouettes of construction cranes have become familiar additions to the sky line looking out towards Five Roses. And as these new developments continue to go up, so to will the efforts of the building management, and in turn the borough offices, to remove any undesirable or non marketable individual or group from the area that may impede on the living conditions of the newly established occupant population. And so it goes.

Some of these efforts can already be seen with the fencing up of areas underneath the highway on/off rampsand the installation of new video surveillance cameras in ans around the construction sites. Wellington Tunnel is directly across the street from one of the development projects. Besides the continued pad locking of the gates to tunnels and the wielding of additional plates and bars to the gate area to impede the entrance into the tunnels, nothing has been done to keep anyone from the area. It is also out of sight, next to and below Notre-Dame street. There seemed to be a bit of smoldering smoke coming from out of the main tunnel so I did not go in. It was also pad locked. There was some guy squatting in one of the adjacent tunnels. I asked him what was going in the tunnel, if there was a fire burning in there. He didn't seem concerned, and said that he knew nothing of it. I told him to watch himself and be careful and went on my way.

 

The old switch house is still closed up too. I think there is someone squatting in that area too. I saw several others squatting under the area right across the street from the spot that was fenced up leaving me to question what criteria is used to determine what area is controlled over another. Anyway, not much there anymore except a dusty parking lot and a lot of fence. I used to live in the Griff a little before all of this development started, and although I can appreciate the need to develop older areas of the city, I guess I just miss my old Griffintown.Not many flicks of the area so I through in a few from elsewhere I grabbed recently. More to come.

Stay posted.

Here & There: June 2012

Summer is in full swing and the streets are on fire. Lot's of activity out there. I've been cooling my heels and taking time with some family in town lately so I haven't been able to go through most of my new stuff. Here are some recent pics I've put together from the streets, TA wall and factory, Stinkys, and and just about anywhere else I've been traveling. Still getting those rooftops as much as possible but some access points are getting a little heavy to negotiate. In any case enjoy this hodgepodge of pics from various spots.

 

The upper TA Wall was buffed entirely again. I'm still not sure what kind of strategy this is for the city, or the MTQ to manage the area. There has also been an increased police presence in the area and I have heard of several incidents where the police either stopped or arrested writers in the area over the last month or so. The bottom section of the wall has been untouched. The buff only goes till the junction box area by the far pylons before you descend to the lower wall area. I've even seen a MTQ truck cruise through as I was entering last Friday. Again, I'm not too sure what the city or the MTQ is trying to accomplish here considering the last time they tried this strategy was August of 2009 when the entire upper and lower wall area was buffed, and that was largely unsuccessful. The lower wall and factory remain active.

Solid productions by Otek and Apash, as well as Oser and Fleo as of recent at the TA Wall. I'm also digging a lot of the action in the factory as of late. Lots of bright colors and funky styles. And speaking of access issues, check out this shot I got from the back of Sex Cite. I was about to check the spot to get some rooftop action but was stopped by a stair cage wrapped in razor wire! I've seen enough of this stuff in New York City, but not a lot here, if ever for that matter. Needless to say I didn't get up on the rooftop and can imagine that as long as the razor wire is hanging about this area that I won't anytime soon. I'm not even sure if this is legal in Montreal and have had difficulty locating any information on the city websites on the issue. If anyone knows then message me some details.

More soon, stay posted.

May-June 2011 update

Been too long since I've been dropping regular updates. But I'm back on track now so here's a general update from just about anywhere I was between May and June: TA Wall & Factory, St. Henri, some general streets, Rouen area, and wherever else. This is just a general update, but I'll be dropping flicks from all the regular spots (and a couple new ones) over the next couple of weeks. And it's not a monster update either, just about 50 shots. The summer weather is in full swing now and the streets are starting to get lit up, lots of nice stuff out there. I've also been experimenting with my new wide angle macro lens combo thingy and its awesome. So without further ado, here are some shots from here and there over the last couple.

Castro regulating the Lionel Groulx spot

There was a dude camped out in the Factory for the better part of the last month and I dunno, something must have happened as his whole spot -tent and all was burned right out. Hope dude and his cat made it out alright.

Killa Ef dropped another finely executed piece the week following that last one I posted. Always a pleasure to see.

Bumped into these guys working on a production in the Factory, came out pretty nice even though the color scheme switches up on the last two pieces.

A nice fresh piece by Mersh.

A solid production by Smak and Sewk.

Respect to Germ for reaching out to his dad for a father's day piece. 

Like I said, not the biggest of all updates, and certainly a lot more going on lately to post. I also got some great flicks from Gnar-Down from this past weekend. I'll drop that in the next day or two. Till then, stay posted.