Below is a short story I wrote for the GEIST Magazine Literary Postcard Contest last year. I’ve decided that it probably didn’t win, as I’ve now received a year’s worth of Geist issues and haven’t found my story printed amidst its pages yet.  You can read it here instead! The rules were: less than 500 words and you had to include a postcard. My postcard looked a lot like this painting above but was a photo.

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TO RELEASE A MIGHTY LOAD

Michael J.P. Hall

“Gotta get out,” he mumbles crawling over me to the gaping window. I’m worried ‘bout his head gettin’ lopped off ‘cuz they’re driving so close to the buildings, but he dumps half a bottle of water over his head, shakes like a dog, and seems to have everything under control.

That was an hour after we crawled into the floral-print hellhole. An hour after we felt the soggy, carpet foam pressed against our backs, and whatever sweat-juice had been festering in there first made contact with our skin. Sixteen hours in a sleeping compartment a foot too short and only slightly wider than a bench! Made weak by tropical heat! Sautéed in an olfactory stir-fry! And this is the deluxe option! We splurged!

We’re sucking down water bottles like shop-vacs just to keep our mouths from seizing. We’re squirming, punching each other, fighting for centimetres until it’s night and freezing wind dries the sweat-juice and stabs us with chills. “Christ Christyn! Close the window!” he snaps, but we find there is no window there, only fragments of broken glass.

Lucky bastard falls asleep with the quick-dry towel over his chest leaving me alone in the dark. Tectonic plates are patiently crushing my bladder. I keep waking up, terrified that I’ve peed my pants. When I can’t take it anymore I crawl over my brother and step all over the Goans sleeping in the aisles, and stumble my way to the bus driver who is dodging farm animals and streaking lights on the pitch-black highway.

“Stop!” I tell him.

“Not making late!” he yells, and bobbles his head the way Mumbaians do.

I can’t stop thinking about that MARS water bomber that used to put out forest fires on the Island. She’d materialize above you with those Pratt & Whitney corncob engines tearing holes in the sky, then dip her greedy belly into the water with such gigantic thirst you thought the very lake would be sucked dry. Then, burdened with the weight and strain of sixty-thousand pounds of water, she’d grunt, and heave, and leap back into the air, banking a 180 as hard as she could, and climb, and climb, back into the shit, high above the scorching pines, until it seemed the very physics of the plane could hold on no longer, that it would surely buckle, collapse and possibly implode under the colossal pressures if the pilot did not at that exact instant, pull the lever, and release her monumental load upon the fiery hellhole below.

Mike was still asleep when I snatched the quick-dry towel, held it between my legs, and felt relief pour over me in waves so strong I nearly cried. Next morning he asked me if I’d seen the towel…

I told him I wasn’t proud of littering.

A typical Tokyo tourist tends to tread tremendously on their toes. That is to say, if you’re up at the crack of dawn and out drinking shochu and green tea ’til the last train in an attempt to squeeze every last drop of travel adventure out of your days, you’re gonna have some sore feet. [...]

Halloween 2009, Chris and I attended Womb, which is one of Tokyo’s best night clubs. The Plump DJ’s were headlining, and I was very excited about the show, as I had seen them spin new years in New Zealand in 2007, and they were outstanding.  Our costumes were a little bit budget, but given our [...]

Some images I shot for Vancouver musician Martin Mayer were recently published in China as part of Martin’s tour. One small image was printed in Vogue China, and others were used in publicity photos as below. You can see more of Martin here

I first conceived of the idea of a Just Divorced photo shoot while driving around with my friend Jovo who had experienced a cathartic release upon getting divorced. The concept was to explore the idea of divorce as celebration, as release. I had the idea of Jovo jumping out of the back of his [...]

It’s been almost a month that I have been taking my camera with me almost everywhere I go. Its been a month of serious looking, examining, mental framing, and risky driving maneuvers as I pull over on the sides of busy roads to shoot something that caught my eye.
Its been fantastic.
But [...]

Commencing on the summer equinox this June 21st 2009, I will take one photograph a day, for one full year.   
This project has had several motivations: firstly, I caught myself saying that I take better photos while traveling. I realized that this belief was not only destructive, but completely untrue. Rather than “ability,” it’s attitude [...]

BACKGROUND INFO

Mt. Matier is a prominent mountain in the Joffre Group, about 45 minutes north of Pemberton. Its peak can been seen from Joffre lakes, while its sizable glacier (Matier Glacier) is responsible for feeding the three green Joffre Lakes. Last summer Chris Ouston and I attempted to climb a 5.9 alpine route on [...]

Rock and Ice magazine has published a letter I wrote. The letter was submitted in response to comments made on one of my photos in issue 174 of the magazine. (Scroll down for details.)
It is avaliable in issue 178, or you can read it online, here.

The series of black and white photos from Vietnam and Cambodia will be on display at The Whip Gallery and Restaurant at 206 East 6th ave (at Main) from May 4th until June 2nd 2009.
Also, some of my colour prints will be on display at The Wicked Cafe sometime next week until the end [...]