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Ice

2007.01.10

A very gray afternoon.

Many of the skaters on the rink at city hall were new to Canada and new to skating. I'm touched by people who take up skating when they come here. It's harder to learn it as an adult.

My mother, who had lived her entire life in South Africa, decided to learn to skate before we moved to Canada. She fell and had a serious injury. Ever since, all the females in my family have maintained a deep distrust of ice.

I have a lot to learn about keeping the action in sharp focus. Right now, I'm snapping at everything. I want to develop more control.

11 Comments

Oh, these make me happy. The smiles that you've captured. The pratfalls. Your pictures tell a story, and this story is of the giddy joy of skating for the first time. That elated moment when you finally get the hang of it, settle into a rhythmic glide... only to suddly succumb to frictionlessness and gravity.

Also, that is the single most beautiful pigeon picture I have ever seen.

tortoise · 2007-01-10: 23:31

5 is such a great metaphor. uncertainty and determination in a new life. life, if for a moment, out of balance. optimism. willingness to be bruised to participate in the journey.

chipotle · 2007-01-11: 08:14

I'm glad you see it. It brought tears to my eyes at the time. There were so many, too. Some laughing, like these guys in the pictures, but others with dogged determination, like something that just had to be done.

There was so much I couldn't capture. The under-dressed teen with no gloves and a turban, tall and unbelievably thin in that teenage, grow like a weed way. He was by himself, and struggling. I pointed the camera at him once, and he saw me, and I thought I was going to make him fall, so I didn't.

And so many have a maple leaf or Canadian flag on them somewhere. I have a bit of that tucked inside me too - that gratitude for being here. Despite the stupid, wicked cold.

JuliaGotz · 2007-01-11: 08:28

And I didn't mention the ones who grow up on ice. I can spot a hockey player in the blink of an eye - The way they move on the ice, and the way they could skate with their eyes closed, yet contained, always, when they are just skating around - power held in reserve. The guy in the red hat in 8 totally had it. I love that. And that elegant couple in 7. From the front, they looked like an ad for teeth-whitening crest or something.

JuliaGotz · 2007-01-11: 08:37

i want ot skate...I miss it so much. Your portraits are WONDERFUL, as always :D kussen!

EarwenElore · 2007-01-11: 09:55

There is so much love in your pictures, enhanced by your words. Love for your city, your country, the souls you capture. If these skaters, both tentative and accomplished, only knew how lucky they are, to be memorialized by such a loving eye. Inspiring.

tortoise · 2007-01-11: 10:13