iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Foodland, Eganville, Ontario. While I was setting up, a mother explained to her school aged daughter how the payphone worked and its purpose. The girl appeared very skeptical. (Shen Hao FCL 810 AC, Schneider 120mm f8 Super Angulon, Kodak TXP 320)

A Bell phone booth underneath the overhang of a super market made from textured concrete boxes. It is at sunset and light is reflecting off windows and aluminum panes onto the walkway. There is a post office box and a shopping cart next to the booth.

3705

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

More of Australia's free pay phones. This one is deep in the basement of Sydney's amazing Queen Victoria Building, an impressively restored, block long shopping arcade. (Hasselblad SWC, A16 back, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

2474

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Inn on Broadway in Rochester, NY was once a club. Among its paintings of notable local scenes is this view of chimneys at Eastman Kodak, claimed circa 1900 to be the tallest in the United States at 326ft. There were postcards then as well. (Leica M4-P, 35mmf1.4 SummiluxASPH, Kodak Portra 160)

A view of a reception room with a pastoral style, vertical painting of two industrial chimneys frames by trees adn a road. To its left is a multipaned rectangular window with a tiny shrub on its sill. A door with a curved top is even more to the left. To the right is a very large window with a curved top. It has flowers in a vase. A bit of a painting showing some evergreens is further right as is part of a large chandelier. Three small tables have small floral arrangements on top of them.

0292

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Esso Station in Alexandria, Ontario last night (Leica M Monochrom, 35mm f1.4 Summilux M ASPH)

A Bell payphone kiosk on a dark wall next to a plastic road salt box. Behind is a dimly lit field and a line of trees

1614

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY. (Leica M4-P, 50mm f1.2 Noctilux, Kodak Portra 160)

A textured gold curtain is at the right. To the left is a dark purple-blue wall with a screen and a ribbed texture. An illuminated red EXIT sign is quite faded

1201

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Rochester, N.Y. (Leica M4-P, 50mm f1.2 Noctilux ASPH, Kodak Portra 160)

A night scene of a art deco style entrance to an apartment building. The walls curve in toward a frameless glass door and have several vertical slats. An illuminated sculpture is reflected in the door. Two planters flank the entrance. Everything surrounding the entrance is black.

2332

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

An abandoned Ontario tourist information centre on Hwy. 417/The Trans-Canada Highway just west of the Quebec border. This was shot in the spring and the phone then had a dial tone. The power was subsequently cut to the building. (Leica M4-P, 75mm f1.4 Summilux M, Fuji Acros 100)

A pay phone is mounted directly to a concrete pillar that also supports a triangular overhang. In the background is a building with a curved wall made of vertical bands of metal. The paint is coming off a metal roof to the right and behind the wall all three skylights.

1533

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The pay phone photos started during the pandemic with the now gone booths along Hwy 60 in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park. While one of the first photos was of a booth at the West Gate, I somehow never noticed this one inside the park office there (RolleiflexWide, Zeiss 55mmf4 Distagon, Tri-X)

A Bell payphone is mounted on a wood covered pillar in a glassed-in entrance. An oval light is above it and maps and a bulletin board are mounted to the left. Outside a kiosk with notices is visible. There is an empty telephone directory case under the phone.

2503

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Rochester, N.Y. The handset pictograph above the kiosk has faded to near invisibility. (Hasselblad SWC, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

A Frontier phone kiosk without its payphone under the overhang of a service station. A multipaned window to the left shows an office with many displays holding auto parts. Under an overhand to the right is a large gas pump. A 1960s vintage car is in the distance

0525

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Algonquin Lunch Bar and Gas Station in Whitney, Ontario. The food is quite good but it lost its payphone long before I started photographing them. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

A large manhole and two small circular metal covers are in a cement platform in the foreground. A traffic cone sits within them. Behind are three tall vents. Further back is two dogs leashed to a very rustic wooden rail fence. Back further still is a quonset hut. Finally there is a row of trees.

1262

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The metropolitan area of Brockville, Ontario. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Y filter, Kodak Tri-X)

A Bell phone booth flanked by precast stone planter boxes. A tree and the shadow of its leaves are framing it. A mailbox is in the distance.

26111

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Some more payphone-transit action in Sydney, Australia. (Hasselblad SWC, A16 back, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

A Volvo city bus is appraoching a payphone kiosk from behind. Railway overpasses are at the upper left. A digital ad displays the words: No Yes

0474

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Back to Australia, where payphones are free for domestic calls and well maintained. Ricky-Lee and Tim, it seems, are radio show hosts in Sydney. (Hasselblad SWC, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

A payphone kiosk in a plaza with a tram in the backgorund. The tram is wrapped with photos of a man and woman and says Ricki-Lee and Tim, New for Breakfast, From 6 am.

3465

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Lake of Bays, Ontario last month. (Shen-Hao FCL810-AC, Kodak 14 in f6.3 Commercial Ektar, Ilford FP-4)

A tree stump that veers off in two directions. At its base is curled up birch bark and an oyster shaped mushroom.

3525

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Gladstone at Elgin, Ottawa. Both @lottiejoy.ca and I have previously shot this pair. (Chamonix 57-N1, 210mm f5.6 APO Symmar, Ilford FP-4)

Two slightly battered Bell Payphone kiosks in front of a old painted brick building. The late afternoon sun as case a diagonal shadow across the bridge's facade. A broad white stop line on the road in front of the phone is very worn. To the left of the phones is a shop with a Circle K sign. Posters and signs in its windows promote a 99 cent Polar Pop drink, a 3 for $6 energy drink promotion and two lotteries.

2483

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The daily police line just beyond the finish line at the Tour de France in 2003. The number of police officers grew that year because of animosity toward Lance Armstrong, particularly from French spectators, and a surge in his supporters from the United States. I can't remember where this was shot.

A number of Gendarmes lined and facing in two directions. All of them are wearing blue, shirt sleeves and képis. One is staring into the camera in a less than friendly way. Behind is a grandstand with vertical yellow banners. To the left in the distance is a silver archway that marked the finish.

1142

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Unusually for odd things on a downtown Toronto sidewalk, this this box of globes and the pile of fake greenery did not appear to be linked to any film crew. (Leica M Monochrom, 24mm f2.8 Elmarit ASPH)

A tall cardboard box filled with globes and their stands sits on a small trolley in front of a stone wall. To its right are artificial evergreen bowes.

3303

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My annual vertical format photo. On the southeastern fringe of Little Italy, Montreal. (Leica M Monochrom, 35mm f2 Summicron v2)

A view down an alleyway with a car in the distance, its brake lights illuminated. The sky has patchy clouds lit by a bright moon which is not visible.

1716

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The Simpson Tower, Toronto. Behind those doors is the now abandoned Hudson's Bay Company flagship store. The tower was the head office of Simpson's which was acquired by HBC which made it its HQ. Ken Thomson, then Canada's richest man, kept his office in it. (Leica M Monochrom, 24mmf2.8 ElmaritASPH)

A pay phone sit inside a shiny metal frame and is surrounded by a metal bezel. to the left are frosted glass doors, brightly lit from behind. A tape barrier is blocking them. The floor and walls are polished stone.

0413

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The entrance to La Lune Rotisserie, Montreal. While is it a genuine Nortel "Centurion" payphone with legit, if old, Bell Canada notices, it appears to be a decoration. There is no dial tone. (Leica M Monochrome, the M9 version, 35mm f2 Summicron v2)

A black Bell Canada payphone with a plastic outer case against a wall of black shiny tiles with white groat. A bit of the exterior can be seen through a glass door at the left.

1517

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Just off of Picadilly Circus, London in March. The notice on the hoarding has something to do with a pay phone. But I was rushing to photograph as many pay phones as possible in 30 minutes, so I didn't take a reference photo and have forgotten its contents. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5 Kodak TriX)

Two British call boxes on a sidewalk. the door on one is slightly ajar. To the right is a black construction hoarding with a notice nailed onto it. Behind is a souvenir shop and a truck.

2332

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Pall Mall, London. I have no idea why these payphone booths were incarcerated. Also why was the sign redirecting pedestrians needed? Presumably they didn't regularly crash into the booths before they were closed off. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri-X)

Two British call boxes that are surrounded by plastic barriers. A sign on an easel in fromnt of them redirects pedestrians. White stone buildings are to the left. Hoarding around a building under construction to the right identifies it as being part of the Crown Estate. Its partially cut off headline reads Creating Customer.

2392

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The National Gallery, London. This is one of the many phone booths in the city with stickers indicating that there's not a phone inside but the "kiosk has bene preserved for future generations". It includes a URL for adopting specific booths. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri-X)

A British call box outside of a stone clad buidling with an ornamental gate and protective bollards.

3574

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Haymarket, London, March 16. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri X)

A British phone booth is set in teh middle of a very wide sidewalk. Signs outside of a restaurant next to it read Americana, restaurant, hidden bar, mezzanine dining serving. . . A classic London taxi is turning a corner i the background

0332

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Another pair in Montreal's Atwater market. They are in an extremely noisy spot immediately outside of washrooms, a stairway and an elevator and next to a sort of food court. I can't imagine that they would conducive to much conversation. (Rolleiflex 6008i, 80 mm f2.8 Planar, Kodak Tri-X)

Two Bell payphones on a white cement block wall. A bit of an out of focus seating area is visible to the right.

2463

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Some customers of Fairmount Bagels in Montreal have displayed a certain level of disrespect for the property of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada. (Hasselblad SWC, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

A payphone mounted on a stainless steel wall is heavily covered in stickers. Next to it are racks of bagged bagels up to the ceiling and a folded up wet floor warning sign is underneath it. A sign indicates, in French and English, that the shop accepts Canadian or American cash but that Canadian debit cards have a $10 minimum. Another small poster advertises special Eastern bagels and another poster promotes novelty bagels.

2383

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Atwater Market, Montreal. (Rolleiflex 6008i, 80mm f2.8 Planar, Kodak Tri-X)

A Bell payphone on a white wall. A metal screen door and a bag of coffee beans are to the left.

0537

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The rear entrance to this medical building in downtown Ottawa sports both a payphone and a direct dial taxi phone. (Hasselblad SWC, Zeiss 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X)

A building entrance looking immediately into an overhang under which a large SUV is parked. The ceiling light fixtures are reflected on the glass. A Bell payphone kiosk is on one wall. A white wall mounted phone wihtout a dial is at 90 degrees. The door next to it is labeled OFFICE. A tall ladder faces the courtesy phone.

1303

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

A battery of phones sits at the ready down a hallway in Toronto's Metro Hall. It was not obvious why a key lock box is attached to the phone on the left. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

Four pay phones are mounted into separate niches under intense focused light. The carpeting is very patterned and a door is that the right.

2493

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Inside this pyramid in Toronto Metro Hotel is an unsettling, tiny bust of Fred "Big Daddy" Gardiner, the first unelected chairman of the now defunct Metro Toronto govt. The elevated expressway which blights downtown bears his name. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

A pyramid with a largely glass top sits in front of tall windows. Tall buildings are in the distance. Two large potted plants bracket it.

3352

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Across from Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri X)

A British telephone call on a very wide sidewalk. Behind and above it is a large Calvin Klein ad showing a woman running in an office. A script lettering sign to the left reads: Bar & Club

0446

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Wellington Street, Ottawa, between the Supreme Court of Canada and Library and Archives Canada. The phone appears to be dead. (Rollei 6008i, 80mm f2.8 Planar, Kodak Tri-X)

A graffiti covered phone kiosk next to a lamppost with four large glass balls. The road immediately behind has a large bike sharrow. Behind is a limestone clad building with many identical multipaned windows and an ornamental balcony.

213914

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Metro Square Toronto. An identical building facing this one across the square lost its phones over the last year or so. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak TriX)

A small metal and glass six sided building on a slope. The facing facade has a sign reading Telephones with a handset pictograph. Two pay phones are below it. The handset has been removed from one of them. Large office towers are in the background along with smallish trees.

0304

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I have a rule against shooting British phone boxes brought to North America. But I made an exception for this one in Rochester, NY because it had been in the service of poetry. Vandals have wrecked it sadly. (Hasselblad SWC, 38mm f4.5 Biogon, Kodak Tri-X made just a few kilometres to the west)

A British call box where the word TELEPHONE has been replaced with POETRY. The phone inside is missing its mouthpiece. Part of a giant pencil is stuck in the ground next to it and has painted on it: 740 Writers & Books. An old three story brick building is further left.

2391

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Village By The Grange in Toronto seems to be actively discouraging use of its two pay phones, both non-Bell ones. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

A back to back payphone kiosk. The phone facing the camera is blocked by a sign. The other phone is obstructed by a cleaner's cart.

1447

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

After the pay phone market opened to providers other than incumbent phone cos., they focused on Toronto. I assume many of those companies are long gone. Their phones, like this one on Dundas near University, are often in a exceptionally bad way. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mmf4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

A phone kiosk on a black wall with a large, light colored bollard in front of it. The kiosk is covered in stickers and graffiti ant most of the phone appears to have been stolen. A large parking garage is in the distance along with a tall building,

2324

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The last of the payphone bounty at the Frontenac Metro Station in Montreal. Or maybe not. I didn't pay to go further into the station so more may await. (Rollei 6008i, 80mm f2.8 Planar, Kodak TriX)

Two Bell payphones are mounted on a stained, unfinished concrete wall. There is a metal grate beneath them. To the left is the station office and further beyond it are turnstiles.

0343

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The last gasp of the Westgate Shopping Centre in Ottawa. It's now just piles of gravel. (Leica M Monochrom, 50mm f1.2 Noctilux ASPH)

A steel and glass pyramid sits over sign reading Mall Entrance. A construction fence has a sign that says DORAN. behind is a cleared area leading to an elevated expressway.

0313

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

The sprinkler system of the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba offers this exhibition of the guts of its sprinkler system for people like me who choose its stairs over elevators. The hotel temporarily closed on July 1 for a major renovation. (Leica M4-P, 28mm f2.8 Elmarit M, Kodak Tri X)

A crowded scene of pipes, mostly black, shut off valves and a gauge. Many inspection tags are hanging from the pipes. A bit of a door and a strip light are visible.

0252

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

A shelter on OC Transpo's Line 2 rail line in Ottawa back in the winter when the "press for heat" button was a very welcome feature. (Leica M4-P, 50mm f1.2 Noctilux ASPH, Kodak Tri-X)

A Bell pay phone in a cylindrical kiosk in front a window at night. To the left is a suicide prevention sticker. To the right is a button with a sign reading, in French and English, Press For Heat. Further right is a handset pictograph above another button with a grill. It is labeled, in English and French, Emergency

4416

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

St. Laurent station on the OC Transpo rail Line 1. This phone is a rare refurbished and relatively recently installed example. The station was formerly an underground stop for a bus-only expressway system. (Leica M4-P, 50mm f1.2 Noctilux ASPH, Kodak Tri-X)

A pay phone in a cylindrical aluminum kiosk with a ribbed exterior. It has a Bell sign and cutouts shaped like handsets. Part of a bench is to the left. A glass wall with a line of OC Transpo logos is to the right and opens into a large space.

3504

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The lobby of an office building in Winnipeg Manitoba that houses's a branch of the University of Manitoba's business school and a Salisbury House restaurant. The phone is proudly branded MTS (Leica M4-P, 28mm f2.8 Elmarit M, Kodak Tri X)

An old marbled entranceway with an MTS payphone in a glass sided kiosk mounted on one wall. A shield pattern is repeated in windows around the doors an a brass radiator cover. A mirror reflects part of the doors.

0346

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Pioneer Gas, Train Yards big box mall, Ottawa. The phone is in good order. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak TriX)

A Bell Payphone kiosk on the side of a white building. Immediately behind it are white panels forming a V. To the right are painted concrete blocks. Visible to the left of the phone is a cage for propane tanks, a dark colored pick up truck and the "Soft Touch Car Wash"

1422

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Wellington St. near Parkdale, Ottawa. I'm embarrassed to say that I passed by here for years without seeing this phone. My defence is that it's a very busy intersection and I was always paying attention to driving or cycling. (Ebony GP69F, Schneider Super Angulon XL 47mm f5.6, Kodak Tri X)

A Bell payphone kiosk in front of a concrete planter and two buildings. A sign behind it reads, in French and English "Commercial Parking Only". A physiotherapy clinc is behind it.

2537

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

The Viau Metro Station in Montreal's Olympic Park. The phone was thoughtfully installed in a slightly out of the way, slightly less noisy section of the station entrance. Makina 67, 80mm f2.8 Nikkor, Kodak Tri-X)

A Bell pay phone mounted without a kiosk on a heavy textured concrete post in a brutalist style. The phone has some vandalism but its display is operating. And out of focus bus and bicycle can be seen through windows. There is also a bench in the background.

2314

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

St. Laurent Blvd. and Walkley Road, Ottawa. The phone has dial tone. (Rolleiflex Wide, 55mm f4 Distagon, B&W conversion from Kodak Portra 400)

A payphone kiosk is under an overhang topped by a roof with peeling painted. Letter, partly obstructed, at the edge of the overhang reads RLOCKING - BRAIDS APPETIZERS. Natural gas regulators and pipes at left of the phone. A small portion of a large SUV is visible.

3423

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Another of the pay phones at the Frontenac Metro Station in Montreal. Two more are to come. (Linhof Technar, 75mm f5.6 Super Angulon, Kodak TXP 320)

A black Bell phone booth with a lot of graffiti sits next to a white metal fence and in front of a greenspace. A glass bus shelter is next to it.

1385

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

More payphone bounty from the Frontenac Metro station in Montreal. This is perhaps the least inviting phone. (Linhof Technar, 75mm f5.6 Super Angulon, Kodak TXP 320)

A Bell payphone kiosk is mounted on a wall made of large, textured concrete blocks. To the left is a stainless steel door and a mostly vertical window.

1324

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Rue Jeanne Mance just north of Sherbrooke in Montreal. A waiter at the cafe, who has taken up macro film photography, came out for a chat. (Linhof Technar, Schneider 75mm f5.6 Super Angulon, Kodak TXP 320)

A Bell payphone kiosk extensively covered in graffiti. To the left is an outdoor cafe. A paving stone walkway heads off at an angle to the right.

2516

Ian Austen @ianausten.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The Saadé International Plaza in Ottawa's Alta Vista neighborhood. Thanks to all who tipped me off about the phone. (Linhof Technar, Schneider 75mm f5.6 Super Angulon, Kodak TXP 320)

A Bell pay phone kiosk is at the end of of strip mall building which is white with black trim. Under the phone are trays used for delivering baked goods. An air conditioning condenser is to its left.

1232