Monochromatic: A Saint John Project
Princess Street, Saint John - 2023
Located in the province of New Brunswick, Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada. That age is evident, especially in the historic architecture, most prominently in the uptown area. Nestled along the Bay of Fundy in Canada’s eastern province of New Brunswick, Saint John has a storied history that stretches back centuries.
Saint John was established in 1785, but a major fire in 1877 that started uptown destroyed over 40% of the city and over 1,600 structures, prompting major rebuilding efforts to restore the city. Previous public buildings built of wood were replaced with brick and stone, and many of those structures remain today. Uptown Saint John has never been known for new commercial development; many buildings, now well over 100 years old, are repurposed rather than demolished and replaced and with the area now being a port for summer cruise ships, new restaurants, bars, breweries, and boutique shops have begun to bring life back to an uptown that had seen a decline in recent years.
I was born and raised in Saint John, moving to Nova Scotia when I was 25. I still visit a few times a year as I have family there, and during this visit, I tasked myself with creating a small photography project. It’s great to see the changes coming to the uptown area of Saint John, but also enjoyable to look back on what once was. I experienced many years here with fond memories, great times with fantastic friends, and events that changed and shaped my life.
With a mix of new and old, I wanted to capture some of the life and architecture of uptown Saint John, and I wanted to do so in black and white. Saint John is not a colourful city, and I feel that capturing the uptown area in black and white aids in capturing the characteristics of the city that I remember - the grittiness and the age. It always seemed old to me, and it was. This project focuses on my representation of uptown Saint John in transition while capturing what I remember from my 25 years in the city.
The included photos here are only a small preview of the project. You can find the complete project, “Monochromatic,” here or in the Projects section of this site.