I want to add a humorous follow-up to this article.

The Westmount district in Montreal is among the richest in the country. Westmount climbs up beautiful Mount Royal where Palaces look down on the city.

In 1993, following a year of soul-searching where I almost abandoned my dreams of being a photographer, my filmmaker friend Phil Spurrell moved into what was the only run-down industrial building in Westmount. The building was slowly collapsing but was zoned by the city in such a way that made it impossible to sell or demolish. Phil had convinced the cash-strapped owner to let him move in illegally at a rock-bottom price. He would look after the crumbling building with constant vigilance, including setting up massive tarps and canals on the ceiling to collect the water that dripped from all corners. The building was virtually empty and Phil invited me to set up a studio.

The timing was perfect! I had just renewed my commitment to my art and this was a great setup. It was easy to convince the landlord to let me move in. After all, after your first illegal tenant, what's one more! For the tiny sum of $300 a month, I moved into a huge studio in the middle of Westmount! Phil and I stayed busy and we used our opportunity - Phil making films and I shooting all manner of photography - we knew that at any moment the city could kick us out or the building could be sold or foreclosed.

It is here that I developed both my Alley series and my Bug series - as well as a series of drag queen images! When I was named the Examiner's Westmounter of the week, my first thought was "Shit! I hope we don't get caught!" It was a laughable situation. It would take 3 years before the building was officially condemned and we were booted out, but what a great ride while it lasted!

A while back in my blog, I posted a series of portraits I shot of Phil. Blog part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4