Citizen, Outsider
Montreal once felt foreign, then like home. Now it sits somewhere in between.
I lived in Canada for over 10 years, but when I first arrived in Montreal, it felt far from home and apart from my identity. Over time, it became familiar.
It’s been three years since I left and moved back to Europe, to Berlin. Yet I still return to Quebec once or twice a year. It’s a strange feeling to come “home” to a place that once felt alien but is now inextricably part of who I am — after all, I became a Canadian citizen only last year.
I know the city like the back of my hand, and carry a strong sense of how it looks and feels. I won’t get into details, but each time I return, I’m reminded I’m both forever linked to it and slowly becoming an outsider again. The skyline grows, favourite bars close, new ones appear, and old friendships shift.
As some of you may know, I typically write lengthy essays of around 2,000 words on topics such as obscure towns on the German-Polish border. Today, I’m keeping things brief by sharing a photo essay I’ve put together from a three-week trip I took back in June. They don’t romanticise the city or denigrate it, more the feeling of drifting apart from something that was once so familiar, a state that lies somewhere between memory, dream, and observation.
Let me know what you think.
You’ve made it to the end!
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Very Montréal ;)
The farine is my favourite! C'est beau!