This past year I had the fortune to have spent several months living in Montreal. As Sean wrote so eloquently on the Tangmonkey News some days ago, Montreal is a vibrant, exciting city. It is both beautiful and ugly, rich and poor, shallow and deep. It is a city full of contradictions, but it has character. Unlike so many faceless cities, it has an identity that it seems comfortable with. In many ways it has become my home, and being in Ottawa right now I miss it.

While there this past Sunday I was reminded of one of Montreal’s most remarkable features - its subway system. Montreal’s Metro system has delightfully diverse architecture. Every station is absolutely unique in design. Some are downright ugly, but many are interesting and some even beautiful. The sheer variety of designs and philosophies employed by the Montreal Metro station architects make it a joy to simply explore the system and seek out new places.

I’ve had conversations erupt over the aesthetic merits of individual stations. Many Montrealers seem to have preferences for different designs. They have stations they love and stations they hate. Though many Montrealers may take them for granted when commuting every day, the Montreal Metro stations are an important component to Montreal’s character.

Inspired by Metro system, I took my camera to document various bits and pieces of it. It was at times inspiring to see such bold designs. When I really paid attention to it, beyond the level I would when commuting on an average day, I began to notice things. The use of colour here, a piece of art there. My camera didn’t stop snapping until I had almost 125 digital photos.

The camera really helped me notice finer details by forcing me to actively look for images. I recommend you get your hands on a camera, cheap or otherwise, and spend a lazy sunday afternoon taking photos. You just might start noticing things you had previously taken for granted.