I like to wander a lot, and sometimes that means stumbling onto unexpected things by accident. The best thing to come across are words – sentiments you’d never expect to encounter, or secrets of people you’ll never know.

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“I Miss Myself”

YEAR: 2018

This is a photo of one of my favourite places, an abandoned pool near my school that I liked to come to in between classes. At first it was hard to make out, but on the blue panel behind the pool, someone scrawled, “I MISS MYSELF.” I wondered what kind of person they were, what changed, what they lost. The sentence got covered by graffiti a week after it appeared.

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“Love Me”

YEAR: 2020

This is a roof that all westward inter-city trains pass while leaving Montreal. I wondered if the message was meant for a specific person, or if it was meant to be from the city, addressed to all those leaving it.

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“Le printemps revenu! Enfin”

YEAR: 2019

I came across this message (“Spring’s back! Finally”) in the Plateau on my daily walk home from campus. It appeared after an excruciatingly long winter, during the first days of thaw. I felt my mood lift and I knew that others were experiencing something similar. This message seemed like evidence of collective joy, or if not that, at least relief.

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“This Is My Favourite Bench”

YEAR: 2020

I found this bench on the banks of Lachine Canal while revisiting St. Henri, the first neighbourhood I lived in as a student. The canal had some sentimental value to me, and I liked seeing evidence that it did for others as well. At sunset, light fractured on the water, and the bench provided an unobstructed view to the west. I could see why someone liked to sit where I was standing.