A year ago when I was in Jasper, Alberta, I went to a photo exhibition at a local gallery. I had met the photographer on the train - Michael I've-forgotten-his-last-name-although-I-could-look-it-up was exhibiting some of his photos.

A unique and fascinating feature of his photography was that he used chunks of ice for his lenses. He gathered blocks of ice and kept them in his freezer until needed. He formed each lens through carving and warming it to shape. Each lens, he said, might last three or four hours depending on the temperature and its thickness.

It gave his photography a muted look that was almost dreamlike.

Another image that has stayed with me is what he does with ordinary soap bubbles. When the temperature is at 20 degrees or so he takes a bottle of soap bubble mixture outdoors. Each bubble freezes instantly and sometimes he catches it and puts it in a box that he can keep indefinitely in the freezer.

He said the bubbles don't stay clear, of course; freezing makes them cloud up.

Think I'll take some soap bubbles outdoors tomorrow.