100: Day At The Museum

Top row (left to right): a demonic bobcat sinks its teeth into a snowshoe hare; the classic polar bear diorama. Middle row (left to right): giant sloth skull; top of an old liquor bottle; the menacing grin of a skeletal plesiosaur. Bottom row (left to right): backlit bottles; moose calf in the boreal forest gallery.

Cold weather, and its elimination of photo-worthy subject matter, made me think of someplace to go this past weekend to give my camera some exercise. I thought of heading out to see the Manitoba Museum's science exhibit and try some trick photography with all the mirrors they have there, but was warned on arrival that the place was crawling with kids. Instead I ventured into the museum galleries themselves, and with a couple of hours until closing I meandered around in search of material. Some things have changed since my days as a kid on field trips to the formerly-named Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, but sadly most hasn't. There are a few "old faithfuls" in the building, some exhibits and dioramas that remain dutifully intact from childhood visits. I snapped photos of my old favourites: the boreal forest gallery, the stuffed polar bear complete with bloody seal kill; the skeleton of a giant sloth. There's also some newer nooks and corners, and to my surprise I spent the majority of my time shooting pictures of backlit 100-year-old glass bottles near the back end of the galleries. It only goes to show the old adage "you never know what you're gonna find".

A closer look at these photos (and more from that day) can currently be seen in my Flickr photostream.