What is it about ice? Besides the fact that it is so very familiar to Canadians, it might be that ice illustrates so beautifully the solid phase of matter that we grapple with daily in less appealing forms. Icicles clear as glass, frost making endless crystalline designs—ice invites us to slow down. (And ice underfoot requires us to slow down!). Absorbing reds and reflecting to our eyes an ethereal blue, snow reminds us that the experience of colour is subjective.
For renowned local nature photographer Shel Neufeld, frosty photos are always worth the effort:
“I love photographing ice. I’m in love with the temporary nature of ice. It shows up in surprising and beautiful ways, sharing a magic that is never repeated in the same way, like watching a sunset . . .
Ice is also interesting because of its very nature: a solid liquid. In some ways ice contains many beautiful polarities operating in a union, like being a solid and a liquid, rough and smooth, soft and hard, sharp and rounded, clear and opaque . . .
Also, living on the West Coast where extensive ice is not so common, it’s one of our brief, normally short-lived winter gifts. One day I lamented the cold weather, like so many of us on the West Coast, and I decided to wander the depths of Roberts Creek. Everything sparkled in crystal beauty. I saw some of the most magical scenes of my life that morning.” ·
