Keeping in Touch By Photograph

Living far away from my parents and my little sister is sometimes difficult and lonely. My parents live 2,000 kilometres away in Peterborough, Ontario and my sister, Heather lives in Saskatoon where she is a first-year law student. I've always considered myself to have good communication skills and as a communications student whose world revolves around writing, presentations, and group work, one would think I would be quite good at keeping in touch with people. In reality, I fail miserably when it comes to calling my family members regularly.

If you still live with your parents or live in the same city as them, you probably don't realize how much your relationship with them is shaped and dependent upon many small moments you share together. Take for example, a Saturday afternoon spent grocery shopping with your mom. In between deciding what ingredients you'll need to make dinner or what snacks to buy for the upcoming week's lunches, you might talk about your busy week at school or work, rehashing something funny or even trying that happened to you and she might do the same. Even if you don't talk about anything like that, by being in the same physical space at the same time, you are sharing an experience together that will help shape your relationship.

Since moving to Winnipeg there have been countless times I've been shopping, watching TV, or cooking dinner when something funny or memorable happened and I wished Heather and my parents were there to share the experience with me. So why don't I just text or call them and tell them what happened? I believe there is a reason the saying "you had to be there" exists. Because sometimes it's true. There are just some moments in life that can never be captured in an email, text, or told in quite the same way as how it actually happened, no matter how good of a storyteller you are. Also, most people including myself lead busy, fast paced lives. Juggling the demands of school, work, home, and friends does not leave much free time these days. It is often the case that I feel inspired to call or text my family but by the time I reach for my phone or computer, some other obligation is pulling me in another direction.   

While I admit I have not done the best job of keeping my family up to date on my life since starting school, I would like to take this opportunity to try and change that by trying something new. We have all heard that photographs are one of the best ways to capture a moment in time without words. I want to share with my family and my readers some photographs I've taken of some obviously beautiful spots in Winnipeg and some less obvious ones. It's perhaps one way I can communicate my love for this city and photography to all of you.