@courtneyohearn.bsky.social

@courtneyohearn.bsky.social

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Montreal Based Photographer. Music, Nature, Travel, Art. A taste for the strange and unusual. www.courtneyohearn.com https://www.instagram.com/cocosnappps/

Two men struggle moving a very large silver appliance out of a car, into a building in an industrial area of Montreal, Canada.

I have been crazy busy with multiple work projects lately, but I managed to sneak in a quick photo-walk on the way home after a recent fashion shoot. My client moved out to a very industrial area in the city to have a bit more room, and I am excited to explore the area with my camera over the summer.

I just bought an optic viewfinder for my camera so I can improve my street photography and shoot from waist level without raising the camera to my face. I love how discreet it feels, and I hope to take it out to an area with more people next, but I managed to grab this snap of two men who also appeared to be moving into the area.

I've always struggle shooting people unawares, I get a bit anxious. But I really love this moment, the dramatic lighting and body positions. Very happy with my new gadget, best $50 I've ever spent on camera gear!

An empty hallway in an industrial warehouse covered in paper, plastic and tape while being renovated. bare bulbs line the ceiling, creating a squared pattern of orange light and shadows, getting gradually smaller and smaller along the walls, leading to a door in the center of the frame.

One of my clients I shoot product and fashion for has moved into a new building. The new studio space I get to shoot in is a dream: massive, high ceilings with tons of natural light. But this was the creepy hallway I entered through from the elevator, still under construction.

I love shooting pretty fashion and product for my clients, but I LIVE for creepy liminal spaces in my personal photography.

During a recent foggy photo-walk on the waterfront in Halifax, I took a dip into a place I have must have walked past a million times and never entered with my camera. The Old Burying Ground in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It's funny how we never really play tourist in our own backyards. The places we live are full of interesting bits of history that we might never contemplate in our day to day lives. But here I was in my hometown as a visitor, and I found myself with a renew sense of curiosity about the place.

The Old Burying Grounds is the first official burial sight of Halifax, established with the city's founding in 1749.

Interestingly enough, it was non-denominational for decades, so there is a wide cross section of people laid to rest here, from war heroes and top military brass, to early settlers, Black Loyalists and refugees, and some indigenous Mi'kmaq. It remained active for almost a century, until closing in 1844, with a new cemetery established in Boot Hill.

There are reportedly 12000 bodies buried there, but only about 1200 markers still remain intact. The cemetery fell into a state of disrepair over the years until it was restored in the 1980s by The Old Burying Ground Foundation.

This cemetery contains many beautiful examples of early 18th and 19th century gravestone art, as well as the graves some notable historical figures in Canadian history - such as Erasmus James Phillips, founder of the first Freemason lodge in Canada, and British Major General Robert Ross who famously burned down the White House in 1814.

It was finally recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1991.

This impressive lion-capped monument in the photo is the Welsford-Parker Monument, aka the Crimean War Monument, or the Sebastopol Monument. Tt is the 4th oldest war monument in Canada and the only monument dedicated to the Crimean war in North America. it was built in 1860 by Scottish stonesmith George Lang, who built many of Halifax's historic buildings.

Reflection of the photographer in a porthole window.

Broke away from the chaos of family visits to clear my head and walk around Halifax Harbour in the fog. Always a weird feeling returning home. So much has changed. And yet, so have I.

It's hard to judge how far you've come without looking back at where you once started. I keep a part of my heart in Nova Scotia always, and I have to check in on it from time to time.