Tosin’s Images & Anecdotes (TIAA) is my self-assigned photography challenge of 2022. The immediate objective is to select one image from my inventory (a cityscape, landscape, portrait, oddity, etc.) each week and write something about it. This “something” could be the story behind the photo, a triggered memory in relation to the photo, or simply a reaction or reflection based on the subject matter featured. The long-term objective is to encourage myself to add more content to “La Vue Atypique”, which celebrates its first decade in publication this year.
What can I say about the photograph above?
Honestly, I do not give Vancouver its proper due on this blog. It is one of my favorite cities in the world and I have written very few articles about Canada’s third largest metropolitan centre, after Toronto and Montréal. (In retrospect, I really do need to add Montréal to my professional portfolio at some point. I visited once back in 2003 and the photos I captured then…well, no one has ever seen them…and that’s alright…and that’s all I’ll say about that).
Vancity — one of the city’s most popular monikers, and also the name of a credit union headquartered in Vancouver — was on my mind this evening so I thought I would write a brief blurb about it for the TIAA project.
Before the pandemic, I typically visited Vancouver about two or three times a year. When I last visited in June 2019, I did not realize then that it would literally be the last time that I would visit for a while. I haven’t visited Vancouver in the current decade of the 2020s. I hope to break the monotony and visit sometime this year.
Let’s get to the featured photo, shall we?
During my last visit to Vancouver, I woke up very early one morning to capture some cityscapes of the metropolis from the eastern suburbs. While photographing, I noticed the trajectory of the moon’s descent as night slowly yielded to day.
Because I could foresee where the moon was going to set, I raced with anticipation from where I was (in Burnaby) to North Vancouver just in time to witness one of the most incredible moonsets that I’ve ever seen!
It was the full moon steadily sinking below the skies above the Vancouver skyline — which was still very much in a state of slumber that morning.
Alas, the city was tranquil and calm. All one could hear was the sound of the breeze above Coal Harbour and a few birds chirping to each other in greeting.
As the moon descended, its glow illuminated the clouds around its sphere, creating a fiery glow and emblazoned haze that were quite mesmerizing to the point that the moment felt mysteriously mythological — like a moment one would only read about in fables. That’s what it felt like for me.
Fortunately, I captured this image to ensure that I didn’t imagine the instance.
16 articles down for the TIAA challenge. 36 remain! (Not doing too badly thus far).
You captured a gorgeous moment in time! The moon looks almost like God is tucking a coin of stardust back into his sky pocket.