We’re at the Greenhill Hotel in Blairmore Alberta and documenting another installment of the Beer Parlour Project (working title) with noted film photographer Robert Pohl. Below, it’s a behind-the-scenes image from this, the second location shoot. It’s really quite a simple concept and we’ll pay these fast disappearing small town hotels a visit, chat with local characters, get to know a little history and soak up the ambience. All the while we’ll be capturing the experience on film and digital, and these local watering holes will be the backdrop.
The hotels we’ll be visiting go back to the early days, and each once the cornerstone of their respective community.
This was a collaborative series planned years ago, and eagerly anticipated by all parties, and then of course the world came to a grinding, screeching halt. Covid hit and just wouldn’t leave, but with things sort of back to normal now, the project’s been rebooted.
We expect it’ll take a couple years to finish and in that time we’ll be criss-crossing the west to visit as many of these venues as possible. We already have a good number on board and have three shoots in the can already. It’ll slow down this winter and then we’ll hit the ground running again come spring. Once this is all done, and it’ll be a while, we’ll compile it into one big post and in the meantime we’ll toss out these little teasers as we go.
It’s been a blast so far and the ride’s just begun.
Short Subjects: Reports that are short and sweet in nature. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and things of that sort. You’ll be in and out in no time!
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
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Loving the project and look forward to getting out to the next one…!
ROB
Us too! I see this growing into something really special and have enjoyed the experience so far.