A local photographer is sharing her appreciation for Halifax’s most beloved businesses through a photo series called Time and Tide.
Wedding photographer Haley MacPhee has branched out with a series aiming to honour establishments that have stood by Haligonians through thick and thin.
It all started with a photo of a motel sign off Lady Hammond Road.
Over the years, the Chebucto Inn’s glowing motel sign has become a marker for ‘almost home’ for MacPhee.
Haley MacPhee
“Last summer I was driving home, I take the same route in the North End every day, and the glowing, bright red motel sign over the Chebucto Inn had gone dark, and I realized it had become kind of a marker for ‘almost home’ for so long,” MacPhee said.
“And I got home, and I said to my partner, ‘I have to go take a picture of that sign.’”
Each business MacPhee chooses to highlight has been a community staple for more than 20 years, earning them a place in the series.
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“They’ve survived time and tide to still be here, especially throughout the pandemic,” MacPhee says. She adds that the best part of working on the series has been surprising the owners with the prints.
Haley MacPhee’s Time and Tide series features The Old Triangle, a favourite among downtown Halifax’s pubs.
Haley MacPhee
“I think a lot of folks, maybe it’s just repetition, you see your same space over and over again,” MacPhee said. “Or you don’t realize how beloved it is in the community until you get into the routine.”
With her first prints on display at Chebucto Inn’s Lady Hammond Grill, MacPhee has already started to feel the love.
“Everybody that comes in just loves it, they all come in and are like ‘Oh my god, the new pictures,’ and they’re all checking them out,” said Melanie Yorke, a server at the Lady Hammond Grill. “I actually had three tables that got up today to go over and look at them.”
For Yorke, who’s worked at the grill for 13 years, the Chebucto Inn is like family, which makes the recognition extra special.
MacPhee says the inspiration for Time and Tide came from her personal connection to various businesses, knowing they resonate with others in the community.
“A lot of folks have been sharing their stories of these places, it’s been pretty special,” she said.
Yorke says the fact that there are few old businesses left in the city makes the ones that are still open unique.
The Economy Shoe Shop on Argyle Street, N.S., is one of the businesses highlighted in Time and Tide.
Haley MacPhee
“There’s not a lot of them left. A lot of them have kind of disappeared and I think it’s a big thing for people … to come somewhere that’s familiar to them,” she said.
MacPhee said she wants to expand the series to other areas of Nova Scotia, like Cape Breton and the South Shore, and eventually profile the owners of these iconic Nova Scotian businesses.
Along with hoping to put a smile on owners’ faces at no cost, MacPhee has her sight set on another goal – or shall we say another chapter?
“I’m applying to a couple more galleries, just to see if there’s any interest to put it out there,” MacPhee said, “and I’m hoping to turn this into a book.”
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