Montreal captured
under the spell of COVID-19
A photo exploration of the city by bike at night
By Roger Jochym
Most of the time I am a self-isolation hermit but after sunset of a beautiful Sunday I cycled up Mount Royal from its east side along the serpentine dirt road. There was a great silence in the city. The road was completely in the dark but I had a headlamp and back red lamp attached to the bicycle frame. The few walkers I met in the dark were like spirits.

Sun Life Building
From the belvedere, the view of the downtown core was crystal clear. The beauty of an electrified city without the pollution of cars was extraordinary. Many of the downtown core buildings were given to rainbow colours that symbol of hope during this crisis.

Gargoyle – Old Montreal
On a Tuesday evening, again well after nightfall, I cycled down to Old Montreal. I encountered only a hand full of people and three other cyclists the whole time I was there, nearly an hour. One could hear their conversations almost a block away with clarity. It was eerily beautiful. There was no extraneous noise, not even an airplane overhead or boat on the river. There was a sense of timelessness.
All images were taken with a Canon Power Shot Elph 190 IS attached to a tripod with long shutter speeds.

Marché Bonsecours

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Bank of Montreal – Place d’Armes

Ferris wheel – Old Port
Images: Roger JochymRead other articles by Roger Jochym
Roger Jochym is a 25+ year resident of Westmount. He is the founder of the Ry Arp Studio, a firm dedicated to generating 21st-century planning ideas that are engaged in regaining the city for the human scale, interlacing it with nature, and invigorating it by culture, the arts, and sciences. His background is that of architecture from McGill and many built projects, notably the trans-border and international wings of Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport.
Great pictures! Great idea!