Antigonish At Night
On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, I took an evening stroll through Antigonish, Nova Scotia. I love to take pictures of landscapes during the day, but night photography is my favourite style of urban scenes.
It's incorrect of me to begin a post about night photography with a picture taken during the day, but I am going chronologically. I snapped the shot on the right on my walk to my local Games Store. After an evening of fun with my friends, I took the rest of this entry's photographs on my return route. I felt compelled to take this one because I really like this tree. Indeed, any pendulous, twisty weeping tree fascinates me.
Below are two shots of the Keating Centre, one of the most ornately-fronted rinks I have ever seen. It is on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University.
While I call this post 'Night In Antigonish', most of my photos are taken on my way through the university campus. The institution takes up a very large chunk of Antigonish's physical space, and has become the town's driving raisons d'étre. As I made my walk, many of the students were packing for the end of term, or preparing for their last exams. There is a noticible difference once most of the students leave for the Summer.
When I was a young child, the Prime Minister of Canada was Brian Mulroney. He recently made a large dontion to St. FX (Where he obtained his undergraduate degree). Consequently, the latest building to grace the campus will be the home of a government affairs programme named for him. The new building is still under construction. I am curious to see what it will look like once it is clad. The rest of the campus has stately brick exteriors. I hope that they don't abandon that tradition for some silly modern façade that will look outdated in just a few years.
The scene on the right is just outside the school library. I know one of the librarians, and while I have not yet had any reason to visit the university library, I hear it is quite nice.
Garbage and recycling are not especially academic, but the university wouldn't survive long without infrastructure! The strangest things catch my eye, it seems...
I usually add metadata for my pictures in a little blurb beneath each one, detailing the apeture and ISO values for each image... I'm not doing it this time since most of my pictures are combinations of several shots (Each with different settings). Below is one such photo that took several exposures to capture. It is an arch over a stairway between the university and the catherdral.
Antigonish is a rather small town in terms of population. Despite that, we have a Cathedral, St. Ninian's. It isthe seat of the local Roman Catholic bishop. Historically, the university was closely tied to the Church, though I am not sure how tight that bond is nowadays.
The Northern border of the campus is St. Ninian's Street (Location, as you might expect, of the cathedral). The street runs alongside one of the small rivers which flows through town. Sandwiched on a narrow strip of land between the street and the riverbank is Cairn Park, which commemorates several local Scottish families. Until the end of World War II, most local families were of Scottish origin. After the war there was an influx of Dutch refugees, whose families now make up a noticible chunk of the populace. The local phonebook is full of Scottish Macs and Dutch Vans.
On the right is a statue located along Main Street. For years the building in front of which the art stands was the town post office. Now, it is an outlet of Service Canada. Across the street is Little Christo's, one of the town's many lovely restaurants. Owing to the large student body and Summer tourists, Antigonish punches above its weight when it comes to places to eat out.
One reason I have never frequented the library at St. FX is that Antigonish has an outstanding public library. It is in a relatively large building on Main Street which was once a grocery store. The building is full of excellent art and has meeting spaces. It is part of PARL, the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library, which shares its literary inventory through branches found across Pictou and Antigonish counties.
I will leave off with two final pictures. The first is the Antigonish Town Hall. It is similar to a few other town halls and post offices located in Antigonish and Guysborough counties, all built around the turn of the twentieth century. The last picture is a local icon, the 5¢ To 1.00$ Store. Thanks to inflation the prices are more than advertised, but it's still a popular place. I feel lucky to live in a pleasant small town which still has a vibrant Main Street, complete with an Edwardian Town Hall and a general store.
