winnipeg

Walking The Via Francigena: Winnipeg to Paris

David Firman12 Comments

This “Walking The Via Francigena” series of posts follow us, David and Gail, as we continue our walk along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route between Canterbury and Rome. In the fall of 2019, we completed the first leg from London to Canterbury, known as the Chaucer Way, and onward to the small town of Tergnier, France on the Via Francigena. A pandemic got in the way but now, in 2022, our trek is underway once again, this time taking us from Tergnier to Besançon over 23 walking days and 580 or so kilometres.

So begins the adventure.

Gail and I left our Winnipeg home…late at night or early in the morning, depending on your perspective. We leave in darkness at 3:45 AM, making our way on foot, as we usually do on such trips, to Winnipeg’s airport. We cross Portage Avenue on the BNSF rail bridge, hopping from rail tie to rail tie. Traffic signals change and pedestrian warnings bleep for no one aside from a rare truck or two walkers making their way down quiet industrial streets. The sidewalks end as we approach the airport fifty minutes later, leaving us to scamper over grass and across taxi stands. The cool night air takes on a hint of jet fuel. Engines thunder in the distance. Our next taste of the world will be Paris.

Read on to view photos and a soundscape.

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A Last Walk With Styxx

David Firman13 Comments

This week, Gail and I bid farewell to Styxx, our much beloved greyhound/lurcher.

Styxx came into our lives on December 14, 2013 after a journey that started in Ohio and Michigan and ended at his forever home that cold winter night in Winnipeg. So began the adventures of we three comrades, bonded by unending loyalty and affection. Adventures that would see us wandering through our city, across Manitoba, and as far west as Vancouver. We shared salmon pasta at home, shawarma and fries on Garbage Hill and pickerel in Gimli. He supervised wine tasting in the Okanagan and cider-sipping in Saskatoon. 

And, of course, he was the subject of many, many photographs.

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Plane Jane: A Walk to the Airport (2022 Edition)

David Firman1 Comment

Looking for a good long walk on one of Winnipeg’s first spring-like days? This Saturday, join tour leaders Gail Perry and David Firman for a unique walk from our house to YWG, Winnipeg’s international airport. It’s our contribution to Jane’s Walk 2022.

This is a fun but long walk so be sure to read the following not-so-fine print:

Date and time

Sat, 7 May 2022

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM CDT

You can register for this free walking tour on Eventbrite but, if it’s a last minute decision to join in, just show up at noon on Saturday.

The walk starts at 521 Raglan Road, in the Wolseley neighbourhood. This is our home. We will gather in the front yard. There are major bus stops at Raglan Road and Valour Road serving all Portage Avenue bus routes within 290 metres or a 4 minute walk.

This is a fun but long walk so be sure to read the following not-so-fine print:

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Your invitation to my photography exhibition: From Our Windows

David Firman4 Comments

I’d like to invite you to my upcoming photo exhibition, “From Our Windows: Polaroids by David Firman” at the Winnipeg Architectural Foundation (WAF), 266 McDermot Avenue in Winnipeg. 

“From Our Windows” is a personal story of life contained within four walls. Set during the early days of COVID-19, the story explores the relationship of sanctuary to the now-viral world outside, separated yet connected through thin sheets of glass. In the late 1970s, photographer André Kertész was living a parallel narrative. Old age and isolation—his wife had recently passed—left him looking through the window of his New York apartment, a story he told through Polaroid pictures and his 1981 book, “From My Window”. Separated from Kertész’s by forty years, I see my work as a synchronous search for beauty in the face of loss.

The show runs April 1-29 and will be open for viewing noon to 4:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

On April 1, 7:00 to 9:00 PM there will also be an ‘alfresco’ opening, meaning that I will greet you on the street in front of the WAF gallery.

Note that, due to the tight exhibit space, masks are required and access is limited to two people per visit.  

I’d love to meet you at the opening but feel free to pay a visit anytime during the month of April. And, if you can’t get to the show, all the photos can be viewed on my website, www.firmangallery.com.

Lastly, there is a companion book, “From Our Windows” available for purchase at the opening or on my website www.firmangallery.com.

Regards,

David

On Location at Camp Morton for a Polaroid Project

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My two year—and counting—foray into the wild world of Polaroid SX-70 photography has taken me in various directions. Recently, I have been working with Polaroid Black and White 600 film and this has led to my current project at Camp Morton Provincial Park in Manitoba. 

Established as a Fresh Air Camp in 1921, the site was once an escape for underprivileged children from nearby Winnipeg. Set on the banks of Lake Winnipeg, the eleventh largest fresh water lake on planet Earth, it would have been a happy place to swim, play, breath in fresh country air. The camp ceased operating in 1971 and has since been transformed into a Provincial Park. While many of the unique camp buildings have been retained, they are all in various stages of decay. In particular, lakefront stairs, retaining walls and other structures have been ravaged by the angry lake, which completely freezes over in winter.

It seemed a perfect subject for a black and white photo project.

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Plane Jane: A Walk to the Airport (the virtual, pandemic version)

David Firman1 Comment

It’s a crazy idea, something you’re not supposed to do. But walking to YWG, whether for pleasure or to catch a plane, is entirely possible. Your hosts, Gail Perry and David Firman, have done it for the adventure of exploring places off most pedestrian road maps and, on many occasions, to catch flights to far off places.

Want to try it? Then join us on our virtual tour, a 3 hour, 11.5 km round trip, starting in the Wolseley neighbourhood and winding through residential, commercial and industrial areas on our way to Winnipeg’s new airport. And then return by way of Omand’s Creek as it takes us by strip malls, big box stores—all those place you usually drive to—as well as surprising stretches of restored prairie. 

Along the way, we’ll explore architectural gems, such as St. James Church, find hidden vest-pocket parks, investigate austere industrial parks, reflect on airports lost and new. But, most importantly, we will take ownership of places in our city where no pedestrian was meant to tread. And, who knows, maybe your next trip to Hawaii will start with a walk to the airport.

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