Most of my day today was spent not doing work but giving into a growing obsession of pictograms. They simply soothe the minimalist aesthetic love deep inside me. As young as I can remember, I have always loved interstate signs, road signs, wordless traffic and pedestrian indicators. I loved the clean fonts used in transit stations and on subway maps. My obsession for transit, big cities, and even the American highway system ensure that I will always live where the buildings scrap the skies (the latter: up until about a couple years ago--I encourage more eco-conscious infrastructure these days). Like urban planning--never knowing it was even an option as a career choice until about three years ago--the silent presence of pictograms has finally spoken loudly.
My friend "Ion" shares some of the same love for cities as I do. We have gone out on photographic expeditions downtown and out of town many times. Even my ex-girlfriend Kate and I went on nearly frostbiting shutter-clicking sprees in the Chicago Loop. I have photos of us at the Lake Street Red Line station at three in the morning, documenting urban still-life. I'd rather walk the steep grades in San Francisco than a grassy hill in rural isolation. My dream is to live in the old city in Montreal, enduring cold winters with shoddy windows--all to be one cell in the lifeblood of a metropolis.
