An nice email just arrived into our inbox this morning by photographer Jeff Friesen, a longtime reader of My Modern Met. He just completed a photography project called The Canadian: Ghost Train Crossing Canada that involves a train's journey across Canada but with an unexpected twist.
“I carry the train rather than it carrying me. It fits into a shopping bag.”
Friesen decided to take a cross country trip through Canada with his two inch tall train.
“I started The Canadian project to show the country from an unseen vantage point,” he tells us. “While it is tempting to document such a huge country from a helicopter or plane (in fact, it has been done several times) I wanted to get closer to the heart of the land. Two inches off the ground seemed about right. The model train provides a vehicle for the journey's visual narrative, linking far places with a ribbon of tiny steel rails. The train has its own resonance, a ghost from the past, it is an exact scaled-down replica of the 1955 Streamliner that was first named ‘The Canadian,' which traveled the route between Montreal and Vancouver.
“It often takes a change of perception to see familiar things in a new way. I hope those who see The Canadian enjoy an old journey from a new viewpoint.”
The unique series shows us the vast, diverse and beautiful landscapes of Canada in a sweet and enchanting way. While in some photos, he makes us believe that we're looking at an actual, real-life train, in still others we're invited to imagine what small and mysterious creatures could possibly be enjoying such a wonderfully scenic trip.
