I have been spending a great deal of time lately continuing the English version of my novel, Shadows Over the Sixteen Prefectures. What began as a historical adventure has gradually grown into something much larger. The story moves through the northwest of China during a turbulent period, cro

Yesterday, an Italian reader came back to my little shop in Montreal. She came to pick up three MiniDV tapes I had transferred for her, and brought four more. But we also talked about my novel, Nonimportantech. She told me she really enjoys the book, especially the part that takes place af

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Yesterday, an elderly woman in her 80s came to my small shop to pick up a VHS tape I had digitized. There was no sound, but the picture was still in color. She pointed at a little five-year-old girl on the screen and said: “That’s me.” The footage was filmed more than 70 years ago with

Yesterday, an old friend came into my little shop to pick up some photographs I had printed for him. One of them was a beautiful portrait of a young man. He placed the photograph inside a beautiful shadow box frame and left with a big smile. Watching him walk away reminded me of the first tim

This morning, my first customer was a mother who walked into my little shop carrying a baby seat in one hand. She needed passport photos. I asked, “For your child or for yourself?” “For myself,” she said. After taking, processing, printing, and cutting the photos, I asked, “Is this for

Yesterday, Montreal had a heavy rain. Yet I saw many people walking calmly through it, without rushing to find shelter. Watching them suddenly reminded me of myself more than thirty years ago. Back then, I often helped my family take care of our sheep in the mountains. I almost never carried

Yesterday, a smiling couple came into my little photo and printing shop with a very special project. They wanted a 16×20-inch canvas print made from a digital photo they had taken themselves. The image was a beautiful oil painting of a smiling couple—and I had a feeling the two people in the pai

Last Sunday, something unusual happened at my little neighborhood shop. In less than five hours, more than thirty people walked through the door. On a normal day, we might see only around ten. I’m not against online shopping. I use it every day—for ordering supplies, communicating, working, a

Yesterday, an old university professor came to my little shop to pick up a photograph from fifty years ago. He had already received the scanned digital files, and his family, old friends, and former colleagues had all seen them. Then he pointed to an old man in one of the photographs and said

This morning, I was about to call a customer to let him know that his two audio cassettes had finally been transferred to MP3. I had just started dialing his number when he walked into my little shop. I played a few seconds for him. Then he heard a familiar voice. It was his father’s vo

Yesterday morning, on my way to open ACCO PHOTO, I saw a simple little scene. A gentleman took a small trampoline out of his car and gently placed it on the sidewalk. Then a little girl, probably about five years old, climbed onto it and started jumping with the confidence of someone who had

Around 2019, a woman came to our little shop with her teenage son. She was studying graphic design in Canada and hoped to stay through the Quebec Experience Program, the PEQ. COVID had just begun. While doing her internship with us, she also volunteered in care-related work. She had been a nu

Yesterday, a man who looked quite intimidating came into my little shop. But once he started talking, I discovered that he was actually very gentle and easy to talk to. We didn’t talk much. I only learned that he runs his own company and that business is going quite well. We printed some phot

Yesterday, a regular customer came into my little shop to print some documents from his phone. Most of them were screenshots of medications and medical information. I’ve known him for a long time. He used to be a taxi driver, but recently, he became a nurse. He told me he was born in Point-Sa

These past few days, I’ve been preparing wedding items for a client — canvas decorations, invitation cards, place cards, and more. For the canvas pieces, we used our large-format inkjet printer, and she was very happy with the results. The cards were a little different. Because she needed

I know my neighborhood has another side. I’ve seen the broken doors, the difficult encounters, the ugly words, and the moments when you wonder how things got this far. But that is not the whole story. Every day, in my little shop, I also meet people who are kind, patient, generous, funny,

Yesterday, a mother came into my little shop with her one-and-a-half-month-old baby for a passport photo. This time, everything went surprisingly smoothly. The baby was calm, looking straight at the camera, and his mother was very happy. At one point, she smiled at him and said: “You kn

A little smile, a moment bright, Tiny eyes caught in the light. One took his time, one came so fast, A family moment made to last.

Sometimes, people connect without even planning to. Today, something very simple happened in my little shop. A family of three came in for photos for their permanent residence application. Their little girl was full of energy. She wanted to stay close to her parents, moved around constantly,