1970 TO THE PRESENT
Montreal
Spirit of the City
The soul of the city lies in obscurity, in places one doesn’t think to look. Not to be found in times and places, but present only in spirit. It is what the city chooses to reveal, to be glimpsed only momentarily. We move through space, mark time and make place. Then the moments come.
Montreal images from the first time I picked up a camera in 1970 and the world exploded up to the present. Archival views and personal observations. I lived in Montreal for over four decades, on my constant quest.
oy in goalie mask cheering in a parking lot, March 1979
Vintage ice delivery truck on Sherbrooke Street, Montreal, 1975 analogue photography.
Vintage analogue photo of the iconic Kondiaronk Belvedere under dark clouds.
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Children playing in an Outremont alley, with a young boy making emergency repairs to his toy car in 1983.
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Boy Tying Up Girl, a playful street moment, Montreal, 1974
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
Children playing in the concrete yard of a Plateau Montreal triplex in June 1983
Two girls in the Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres religious procession, one walking very piously, and the other waving with a smile, a vintage analogue photo in Montreal, May 1981.
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
A man with flowers waits nervously in front of a scene of mannequins mimicking life in the Miracle Mart store window in Montreal, April 1975.
A vintage analogue photo of a St. Lawrence street shop window that looks like the mannequins have revolted into chaos, Montreal, April 1975.
Men can be seen inside the restaurant window, along with a truck mirroring the scene.
On St. Catherine St. in 1982, the iconic Toe Blake Tavern sign beckons at the end of an empty sidewalk in this vintage analogue photo from 1982.
Children wait in a car parked across the street from a tavern while a man looks on from the doorway in June 1979.
Ladies out for a stroll on Sherbrooke West look quizzically at the photographer. They appear to be twins, a March day in 1981.
Historic Montreal streetscape in black and white - Archival analogue fine art print by James Rae
An elderly man kicks away a lump of snow off the sidewalk on St. Catherine St. in March, 1981 in this vintage analogue photo.
A man in a Bruins hockey sweater walks past the Toe Blake tavern with his dog and a case of beer, playoffs season in Montreal, May 1982.
A sign heralds the stars in a downtown storefront window, with a parking lot for an audience, in Montreal, December 1980.
A dry cleaner is busy at work in his shop window below street level on Sherbrooke St. W. in Montreal, March 1975.
A barber alone in his Park Ave. shop takes a moment to trim a plant before closing his shop for the night in Montreal, December 2021.
A foggy restaurant window on a wintry evening on St. Catherine St. reveals a man sheltering from the cold who sees the photographer outside in this vintage analogue photo taken in Montreal, December 1975.