Towne Theatre Interior: Main Cinema

From the lobby of the abandoned Towne Theatre, I made my way into the main cinema. With only a couple of the lights at the back working, this is where the theatre really started to feel abandoned. The carpet was dirty, some of the seats were badly stained, and some of the wall drapery was hanging down. No question, the Towne has seen better days than this. Even so, through all the rough spots I could still see the place that I'd frequented so many times growing up.

At the front of the theatre the golden curtain still hung above the stage. A small opening in the curtain revealed that the screen had been taken down and was now lying on the floor. I imagine it was taken down to remove the speakers that were behind it. That's probably what happened to a lot of the drapery on the walls as well. Nothing else was behind the curtain except a brick wall and a wooden frame.  

Down the stairs behind the screen I had a quick look at the original boiler in the basement. There are a few small rooms down there that were perhaps dressing rooms at one time. They're all empty now, but if I'm not mistaken it seems like they must have done some theatre productions here way back when. 

Just off of the stage a small room revealed a few more interesting clues from the Towne's past. A few theatre employees had scribbled their names on the wall from over the years. There weren't all that many, but they did span from the 1970s to the late 1990s, which was pretty cool to see. It's always interesting to think about the people in places like this, especially considering that this theatre would've been packed on opening nights every weekend. Now it's just a dark and quiet room collecting dust. 

From here it was on to the projection rooms. 

A Photo Shoot with Rupali Yeast

When my cousin, Rupali sent me a message about doing some photo shooting last weekend, I thought it sounded like a fun idea. Some of the family was coming down from Calgary, and my Saturday hangout with Rupali seemed like a good chance to kid around and bond over shared interests. I really didn't have any expectations for that afternoon, but then I never thought that we'd get on such a creative kick either. 

Rupali has been pursuing a professional modeling career for the last couple of years. In addition to bookings around Calgary, she spent three months in Shanghai exploring opportunities set up by her international booking agent. Lucky for me, Rupali, having seen some of my photographs, seemed as enthusiastic to let me experiment as I was to have the chance to photograph her. 

I decided it would be fun to try blending some of Medicine Hat's stereotypical backdrops (that I'd already played with in Around the Hat) with Rupali's youthful look and style to create a contrast that I thought looked original. My goal wasn't just to capture a nice portrait, but to create a scene that made the various locations as interesting as my subject was. As a result, not only did Rupali look amazing, but I felt that the images had more depth, detail, and character. 

I loved the challenge of making the Hat seem overtly trendy in some instances, and almost dreamlike in others. Rupali glowed in these surroundings. Even just as snapshots, I think all of our images tell a cool story about the series of brief adventures we had that afternoon around the city.

I would also be remiss if I didn't acknowledge just how talented I think Rupali is. She was continually giving me a variety of looks to play with and didn't hesitate when I brought up ideas for us to try. In the end, I feel like we played off of each other's strengths and came up with some really cool stuff. I look forward to doing it again sometime. Hopefully sooner than later.