THRESHOLD
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Prologue A threshold is a place of departure. It is the transition from one state to another, and often evokes feelings of movement, acceleration, and trepidation. A threshold often indicates the presence of an unknown, which brings with it inklings of excitement, tension, and mystery. I was inspired to choose the theme, ‘threshold,’ from a door hinge that I picked up on the first day of class. In my exploration of this theme, the door hinge remained the most tactile manifestation of a threshold that I encountered. It can be held in one’s hand, has weight, a feel, makes a sounds when it hits a surface, and smells of metal. From this very physical, tangible object, I derived a meaning which was opposite in nature. The idea of opening a door, to moving to a new place or state of mind – to being on a threshold where the boundaries are blurred and there is nothing to grasp, but pressing feelings of excitement and wonder and opportunity. The way I imagined opening the door of a wardrobe to Narnia as a child – the presentation of the unknown, laid out to
be explored. It is this combination of unrest, excitement, opportunity, and mystery that I strove to capture in the following photos. In designing this zine, I have left ample space for the photos to breathe, and leave an impression with few distractions in the layout. This minimalistic approach is stripped down to give the content as much impact as possible. I have attempted to create a quiet space for the photos to sit and be viewed without distraction. 1 Door Hinge
2 Self-Portrait
3 South Campus Edmonton
4 LRT, Edmonton
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1 Columbia Icefields, AB
“Don’t do it. If you slip you’ll ..get hypothermia.” .“I think it’ll be fine.” He skids on the ice, dunking ..one leg in the water and cling- ing to a rock for dear life.
There are some places in nature that when you encounter them, you feel that you are in a special place, and are compelled to stop and do nothing but take in your surroundings. Sometimes they entice us to get closer, to feel the textures and understand the space. 1
1 Rick Haldenby, Lecture
2 Lake Louise, AB
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he mountains have always been a place of wonder for me. I remember the first time I saw them as a child, and wondering how anything could be that big. The overbearing presence of megalithic forms in the environment often evoke feelings of a threshold. The dip in the horizon, where mountains turn to valley, is a strong natural threshold. It is the powerful meeting place of land, water, and sky, and the break in the landscape that allows one to travel through, and move from one side to the next. Extreme landscapes are volatile in nature as the weather can change in an instant, and there is sense of shifting conditions and flux. In ancient Rome, many of the temples were built so that the statue of the divinity was aligned with the distant dip in the horizon. One theory is that the break in the land signified infinity, and that the divinity was gazing beyond the earthly bounds of humanity into the cosmos.1 In this way, the valley of the mountains can be seen as a threshold to the universe.
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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening� Robert Frost
1 Highway 93, Near Jasper, AB
2 Canmore, Alberta
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“Do bears stay out at night?�
We found our way back to the path by using the flash on our cameras. The feeling of walking through the threshold of the trees, where the ground was lit by the stars, was one of utmost relief. We drank straight from the stream and made our way back to the car.