Montreal's Village People

Great Hairstyle (Gotta Love The Pink Rinse)

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

These shots were taken at Montreal's Gay Village. It was about 9 o'clock on a beautiful, sunny September morning, about 20 degrees - but I was in a hurry. I was booked on a flight to Toronto and I didn't have a lot of time to spare, especially as I had to drive a rental car to Muskoka in northern Ontario.

I had spent 48 hours in Montreal and covered an amazing amount of ground, but my friend Anick Cesaria, who works for VIA Rail, told me that no photographer should miss the chance to shoot the Village.

Bearing that advice in mind, I had some mental juggling to do. I could not miss my flight to Toronto. But, because the perfect photo always lies around the next corner, I simply had to head to the Gay Village, which is detailed very comprehensively on Wikipedia.

I had a quick breakfast at my hotel, the splendid, historic Queen Elizabeth (more about the John Lennon connection in a later post) and raced out to catch a cab.

I asked the driver if he could take me to the Village, wait for me while I took as many shots as I could - and then take me back to the hotel to check out. Yes, he said, looking at his watch. We would make it with a few minutes to spare. I trusted his judgement.

I spent about half an hour at the Village, using a Pentax Optio digital camera and my Canon EOS 3000 film camera to which I am very partial. I got some memorable shots in my time there (and made my flight with time to spare) but my central memory of the Village is this figure, above the Cabaret Mado.

Anick, you were absolutely right. I could not afford to miss photographing the Village.