Newfoundland and Labrador: The Corner of the World

After a successful time in Halifax with the opening of my 'Power Houses: Halifax Regional Municipality's City Council' exhibit, I felt a little bit more rejuvenated to continue on the last leg of this project. From Halifax, I flew out to St John's, Newfoundland to photograph the home of Premier Danny Williams.

I should mention from the start that Premier Williams was by far the enthusiastic of all the premiers about this project. He was supportive from day one. Pretty much as soon as he received the preliminary package that we sent to all of the premiers back in June, he himself called the publisher, Trinity Enterprises, to say that he loved the project and was more than willing to oblige me. So, leaving for St John's, I was pretty sure this one was going to go smoothly. He certainly wasn't dispelling the myth of the hospitality of Newfoundlanders.

And it did. I called a couple days before leaving. His office gave me the address. I flew to Newfoundland, told them the exact time I would take the picture, and took it. Actually locating where the street was and getting myself there was more difficult. If you've ever been to St John's, driving around this city takes a little getting used to. These are some of the bizarre and seemingly dangerous intersections I've ever encountered. There are 5-way intersections, 6-way, probably a 7-way somewhere, or a 5-way followed by a 3-way about 20 meters later. Or they're about 100m long because the two streets crossing are close to running parallel to each other. I got lost a couple times, which seems like an obvious occurrence for a tourist when you consider the streets. Seriously, look at an online map of St John's and zoom in on the streets of downtown. Crazy.

But, I found the house. I took the pictures without incident. I will say right now that so far, Premier Williams has the most luxurious home out of all the premiers. The man who worked at the premier's office told me that Premier Williams also made the request that I get all of the premier's cars in the shot as well. The driveway was off to the side, and I explained that I was only taking the front of the house. Plus, seeing as there were about six different cars in the driveway, I wasn't sure they would all fit in the frame! But, when I arrived to photograph, the nicest car of them all - I believe it was a Dodge Prowler - was parked near the front of the house. I think I'm going to like this photograph a lot.

So, I've been killing some time here, enjoying the beautiful scenery that comes with being on the extreme eastern edge of Canada and North America, It gives the impression of looking at the edge of the world, wondering if Newfoundland will fall off some day. If they do, I will miss their accents. It's my favorite thing about Newfoundland. And the driving is growing on me already too. Oh, and the hospitality, and the scenery. And I'm sure there'd be lots more if I could spend more time here.

10 for 11.