Photography.ca » Montreal

I Waited 30 Minutes in Line to See Chihuly — 6 Days Left

Marko Kulik — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 12:42:34 +0000

Dale Chihuly is an American glass blowing artist/genius/innovator. I went to see his show at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts last week and waited 30 minutes in line because his popular show is coming to an end and I’ve been busy for the last few months. The show ends officially on October 27th.

One of my greatest pet peeves on planet earth is waiting in line. Give me the best restaurant in Paris, New York or Montreal and if I have to wait more than a few minutes, I’d rather pick up a falafel or pizza slice and eat it on the go. Don’t get me wrong, I love good food, but my hate for line-waiting wins over nearly 100% of the time. Needless to say, when I went to the museum last week and saw a line of about forty people I was not happy. My wife and I surveyed the line. She knows me (and my bad whiny behavior) with lines…so she quickly told me that it was ‘my call’ and that we could leave immediately without consequence. As we (mostly me) were making this decision, the line suddenly started to move rather quickly and a forty person wait turned to a thirty person wait. I bitched a bit but we sucked it up and waited in line.

Here’s my review. Words or pictures can’t do this show justice and I only stayed at the show 60 min. It’s a 10/10 masterpiece that needs to be experienced. Period. So long as you are not colour blind, all I can say is go see it. It’s worth a 30 minute wait. It’s worth a one hour wait which is my max for waiting for absolutely anything non life-threatening. If you are a patient person though, it’s worth waiting all day.

Take your camera because photography is 100% permitted and encouraged. This modern aspect of the exhibition also impressed me because plenty of exhibitions are still in the dark ages with regard to photography. Expect crowds but expect that the wait and bustle will be worth it. Expect to see the work of a Master.

The Circus is in Town — Montréal Complètement Cirque

Marko Kulik — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:47:41 +0000

This weekend will be your last chance to catch Montréal Complètement Cirque, which is a newish circus festival that got added to Montreal’s roster of festivals a few years ago. It’s loads of fun and a great addition to the summer festivals in Montreal. I was lucky enough to see a few shows and I can tell you that there’s something for everyone. There’s both free outdoor shows as well as paid indoor shows. Last week I saw the indoor show Smashed Gandini Juggling which was a fabulously whimsical juggling performance by a team of British apple jugglers wearing suits. It starts off completely wholesome and gets slightly less wholesome throughout the rest of the juggling show (but remains wholesome enough for kids).

Last night I saw Propaganda at Usine C and they were less than wholesome. It’s an eccentric 2 person acrobatic-theatrical show with female acrobat Jo-Ann Lancaster being topless for about half the show. There’s skits, tits, trapeze, rope swinging, themes of servitude along with some cool fetishy outfits, all served up in a dimly lit set with harsh lighting. The audience enjoyed it big time but I didn’t get it or find it very exciting. This week S Circa seems to be getting lots of buzz; I didn’t get to see them yet but Montreal Cuture guy Zeke reviewed them here.

Free outdoor shows are a great way to soak up the circusy zeitgeist and I got to see TOUR DE PISTE AU QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES: BABEL last week at the corner of St. Hubert and Ste. Catherine. About 25 acrobatic performers jump, dance, strut, swing, balance, trampoline, unicycle, and flip all around a few stories of scaffolding in Place Emilie Gamelin. Fun stuff for the whole family and still going on for the rest of the week.

Babel — Place Emilie Gamelin– Montréal Complètement Cirque

Smashed Gandini Juggling — Montréal Complètement Cirque

The city and the people working as one — NOT

Marko Kulik — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:01:19 +0000

Every photographer has subject matter that interests them more than other subject matter. For me, what gets me going the most is fine art photography and portraiture. However.….every once in a while I’ll pull out my camera to shoot different subject matter. Gotta pay those bills. This morning however I pulled out my camera because I was simply pissed off at my city. Look at what they are doing with our recycling. Does THIS look like a recycling truck?

I love Montreal. I find the city VERY progressive, tolerant, fairly clean and great place to live. My wife and I love it here. We are community minded people who believe in the environment and we ALWAYS recycle as much as we can. We wash out containers and bottles and separate papers to make it easy for the recycling crew. We used to see our recycling going into a recycling truck, where it would get sorted on the spot. As far as I know, crunched up mixed recycling in a garbage truck is NOT recycling…it’s friggin’ garbage on its way to a landfill.

Does anyone know what is going on here? I mean as much as I love to do my part, I hate wasting my time, and I hate municipal bullcrap. If my recycling is going into a landfill, then why am I wasting my friggin’ time?

Portrait from the Plateau

Marko Kulik — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:54:20 +0000

I recently moved into one of the best parts of Montreal called Plateau Mont –Royal AKA The Plateau or Le Plateau. There are so many interesting people in this bustling and artsy part of town that I think I may start a new series of casual ‘street’ portraits just for fun.

Yesterday as I walked through my new favourite location (Parc Lafontaine), I spotted 2 lovers in a hammock and asked if I could take their portrait. They agreed and I think I captured the feelings they have for one another. This was shot at about 6pm with no flash or reflector, only ambient light.

Party at the Old Port

Marko Kulik — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:14:20 +0000

Here’s a shot of a huge ship at the old port in old Montreal at night. It was of course the lights and their reflections on the water that made this shot interesting for me. I normally don’t shoot handheld at slower than 1/30th of a second and this shot was taken at 1/15.‚ Exif data F2.8, ‚1/15 at ISO 1600. You can click the image to make it tastier on the eyes.