Cold has frozen the creek and floods from the beaver dams, along with the snow, have flattened the grass. Things usually hidden in the undergrowth are seen in the winter, and they tell winter tales. Most of the fallen trees still have large amounts of soil attached to their roots, but this one has little left other than the skeleton. Even in death it seems to have suffered.
The Fence That Divides Purposes
This image is from a more recent project focused on a small bit of land, on the map called a “nature reserve,” which lies between residential housing and a fairly heavily industrialised area. A fence divides these two, broken in many places and overgrown by saplings that have disrupted its order and continuity. Besides the pathway, creek and fence running through this “natural” area is a freight line. Trains cross the creek, and loudly rumble through the bog and adjacent woodlands. There is no warning except signs telling you not to cross the tracks even though the pathway is clearly marked with steps and elevated boardwalk. An area of many contradictions.
Salt Pile
Along the Creek Running Through the Industrial Park
In the Garden, in the Rain.
The Garden in Winter 2023
A High Tide and Strong Wind
Landscape and Documentary Photography by www.jimroche.ca
Read moreFlooding in the Delta
The rain stopped early today and we went down to a woodlands along the Pacific coast. There the high tide and strong winds blowing inland Brough a flood inland. Pathways throughout the woodlands were flooded, some were like little streams. What all the salt water will do to the cottonwoods I’m not sure.
The Lines Over the Cranberries.
This morning, early, I drove up and then down the Fraser River, looking for some magic in the fog. None was found on the river, which cleared sooner than the countryside running along it. Finally, when nearly back in town I saw these wires stretching across the cranberry fields. They were strikingly lonely looking.
A Walk in the Forest on a Rainy Day
A Walk On The Circular Path Around The Bog
For three or four years I have been taking this walk around the bog in Richmond, British Columbia. The hedges grow in around the route and block out the sun here and there, and left it in blazing a few inches away. The contrasts are sharp. The brush grows, often looking like wave formations and explosions. The heavy rains made the season short this year, already there is snow in the mountains.
The Rock Along the Pathway
A large rock along a pathway by the river, how much of it there is unseen, I don’t know. Usually it is covered with kids, as we are still close to the parking lot for the trailhead.
A House Alone
A house in the local light industrial area of the city. A few such structures remain, somewhat out of place.
The Meadow Along the Pathway
The Birds That Wait Forever
These birds, placed in this setting to give them a feeling of life and “the real” instead have a feeling of isolation, aloneness, and emptiness. There seems to be little hope, little future, in spite of the fact they will be there, on the same branch tomorrow, next week, and 5 years from now. Still, I am drawn to them because they don’t move as I study them and notice each feather.