"This Is Home" by Peter Gabriel - A Music Photeo by Ez

Watch "This Is Home" by clicking here or on image above

🌼📸🐝Friends, a very special story and a brand new project to share today… 

When I first heard Peter Gabriel’s new song “This Is Home” a few short weeks ago (in Oct. 2023), I was deeply moved. Moved by the gripping song itself and also by its themes of home and togetherness. 

Gabriel’s voice and lyrics struck a deep and timely chord and I was instantly inspired to create one of my ‘music photeos’ for it. 

(Music photeos are my own brand of photo-based short films that lie somewhere halfway between a music video and a souped-up slideshow. Watch all my music photeos here.)

As soon as I set out on a walk that full-moon morning, with “This Is Home” playing on repeat, I began visualizing the photeo in my mind, vividly and effortlessly. And what I envisioned was literally wild…

You see, I'm a doc filmmaker and street photographer by trade and at heart, but in recent years I've been evolving, digging deeper into wildlife and nature photography, getting out as often as I can to nature preserves, bird sanctuaries, mountains, lakes, beaches and gardens to capture glimpses of the stunning creatures that make those places their home.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and eagerly sat myself down at my editing system to summon these creatures and whip up a music photeo for this captivating new song. 

To mesh with the theme of home, I sifted through thousands of images in my photo collection, finding my favourite shots of animals and insects in their homes or natural habitats. 

I selected birds, bees and butterflies as well as tons of other critters: some fuzzy, some feathery, some sleek; a bunch of up-close macro shots of stunning flowers too.

I was happy with how it was all clicking into place so smoothly, but felt it was missing something: another visual layer to connect what we are seeing to the song. 

“What can I add to this to take it to the next level?,” filmmaker Ez wondered to himself.

After a minute of head-scratching, photographer Ez's mind blurted out: "The concert photos!” 

How did this not dawn on me (and me) sooner? 

I had been so taken by the song and so busy finding just the right nature shots to go with it, that I had overlooked the fact that a month earlier I'd actually shot photos of Gabriel in concert at Montreal’s Bell Centre. 

Fuelled by this brainwave, I began interspersing photos of him and his incredible band in THEIR natural habitat… up on stage. 

Long story short, it all just worked. 

After a few days of editing, I sent the video off to Peter and his label, Real World Records, and crossed my fingers. 

I then received emails back from both him and the label saying they thought my photos were beautiful and lovely and giving me their blessing to release my photeo. I cannot thank them enough for their faith in me and for permission to use this powerful song.

Special thanks to Anna Gabriel, fellow photographer and friend, for hooking me up with a photo pass for the Montreal concert in September. An unforgettable experience.

My hope is that this fan video brings a deeper appreciation of the seemingly infinite (but frequently threatened) species and habitats all around us. My goal is to shine a grateful spotlight on all these creatures, showing their interactions with each other and the natural world around them. 

May the colour, warmth and beauty they offer provide some much-needed hope in today’s topsy-turvy world.

After all, “This is home” and - as far as I know - it’s the only 🌎ne we and the animals have. 

Keep your eyes and ears open for Peter’s new album “i/o” coming out on December 1st. You can pre-order it here: https://lnk.to/PG21 I’ve heard nearly all the songs on it and it’s just wonderful. 

The album i/o, coming Dec. 1st, 2023

Finally, you can 🦋WATCH🐿️ my music photeo for “This Is Home” right here: 

https://youtu.be/uosjwzc1gdE

I’m thrilled to share all this with you today. Thanks for reading, thanks for watching and please feel free to share it with others if you dig it!

L❤️ve to all from Montreal,

-Ez

All photos in this post (except "i/o" album cover) by Ezra Soiferman, ©2023

"Montréal, Snowbec" A short film by Ez

Hello Ez Sez readers! I recently released a brand-new short film called “Montréal, Snowbec”. The 5-minute movie premiered on TV on the CBC’s “Our Montreal” and was released online on the CBC’s Creator Network (Read Ezra’s CBC essay on the genesis of the film here) and on my YouTube channel where the film already has over 20,000 views.

Montréal, Snowbec is my love letter to my beloved hometown.

The short “musical documentary”, which features lively and colourful footage and photos I created over seven winters, paints a timeless, intimate portrait of winter in Montreal, specifically how the city deals with all its snow.

The film bears witness to the ballet-like snow-clearing operations of the city’s mammoth plows as they prowl Montreal's 10,000 kilometres of streets and sidewalks, taking endless dump truck loads to gargantuan municipal dumps.

This is a film for those who love winter and for those who absolutely hate it and only want to watch a short film about it and not have to actually venture out into it.

The film features a soundtrack by my friend and frequent collaborator, acclaimed Montreal hip-hop producer and musician Josh "Socalled" Dolgin.

You can read Bill Brownstein’s front-page Montreal Gazette column on the film here.

You can watch me talking about the film with journalist/host Sonali Karnick on CBC’s “Our Montreal” here.

You can listen to me talking about the film on The CJN Daily Podcast with Ellin Bessner here, or you can watch the video version of the podcast here.

Enjoy the film! Stay warm! ❄️

Ez