Friday, March 25, 2016

"Last Game at The Forum" - Limited Edition Book




Watch the "Last Game at The Forum" video : 

Watch the project's 'music photeo' (huh?) by Ezra Soiferman 
featuring the rousing song "We Go Home" by Adam Cohen.
Click here to watch it on YouTube.
Special thanks to 
Adam Cohen and his manager Jake Gold for their blessing to use this song as part of the project.

Version française ici.

I kept this project 'on ice' for 20 years… 

“Last Game at The Forum” is my limited-edition coffee-table book and gallery exhibit featuring previously-unseen 'time capsule' documentary images I took of the staff, fans, structure and soul of the beloved Montreal Forum on March 11th, 1996, during the final Canadiens game at the hallowed building.


Photo of Ezra by Heather Black, Westmount Independent

The project was unveiled with a gallery vernissage and book launch at Le Frame Shoppe's Art Victoria Park on March 11th, 2016, the night of the 20th anniversary of that 'last game'. It was incredibly heartwarming to see the enthusiastic crowd on hand to see the photos.  All books at the event sold out as well as all the copies that had been printed up for online pre-orders. I was overjoyed by the response.

"The Reds"
Book Update: The first batch of books sold out thanks to online orders and the gallery opening - Thank you! New ones were ordered from the printer.  Place an order for your copy at the pulldown menu below. 

Gallery Update: The gallery show has now come down. It went up on March 11th, 2016, and was held over due to popular demand until April 8th. The show featured 25 limited edition frames at Art Victoria Park in Montreal. Thank you to everyone who purchased signed and limited edition frames at the gallery.  

To inquire about purchasing a signed, framed image from the series for your wall at home or at the office, or as a gift for a Habs fan, please contact: ezrasoif at gmail dot com.



"Silhouette"
“Ezra Soiferman’s book revives Montreal Forum ghosts. What’s most appealing is that the photos don’t focus on the game, rather on the fans, Forum hot-dog and beer dispensers and other human fixtures and the building itself.”
-Bill Brownstein, Montreal Gazette


Click here to read the Montreal Gazette article by Bill Brownstein

“Beyond excited, I got teary-eyed.”
-Toula Drimonis, Host, CJAD


"Forum"

I became wildly nostalgic as soon as I started to look at these pictures… 
It managed to capture the spirit of another era. 
If you have ever been to the Montreal Forum, 
or if you never got to go to the Forum, you want to see this.” 
-Terry DiMonte, Host, CHOM 97.7FM


With Global TV reporter Kelly Greig at the Forum, now a multiplex cinema.
Click here to watch the full report. 

Ezra in front of his Last Game hot dog vendor photo now featured
at 5 concession stands at the Bell Centre in Montreal

A father and son in front of one of Ezra's Last Game
 photos featured at the Bell Centre

Press coverage for the photo series and book: 

-On March 11 2016, Kelly Greig of CTV-Montreal included an interview with Ezra as part of her coverage of the 25th anniversary of the last game at the Forum.
- In the fall of 2018, two of my photos from the series were licensed by the Montreal Canadiens and printed on 5 concession stands at the Bell Centre in Montreal. This is a huge honour for me. Big thanks to Florence Labelle and the whole team at the Canadiens' Photo Services department.
- The project's music video was talked about on CBC-Montreal's Homerun show on April 1st, 2016.
- Coverage of the show in the Westmount Independent's March 22nd, 2016, issue. Features the photo of Ezra seen above.
Covered on Dave Fisher's Dave's World CJAD radio show by Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein on March 19th, 2016.
Review of the book by Stuart Nulman in the Montreal Times of March 19th, 2016.
Featured by Le Devoir in the 'Sorties week-end' section on March 18th, 2016.
-Bill Brownstein of the Montreal Gazette wrote a column all about the project on March 15th, 2016.
- I participated in a Forum reminiscence session and interview on CJAD's The Exchange with Dave Kaufman and Dave McGimpsey on Friday, March 11th, 2016, right after the book launch event.
Fun interview on TSN Radio 690's "The Montreal Forum" show with Tony Marinaro on March 11th, 2016.
-Featured on Global TV Montreal with Kelly Greig on March 11th, 2016. Watch the full clip here. I also appeared in this separate clip from the Global nightly news the same day.
Sue Smith interviewed me on CBC-Montreal's Homerun show on March 10th, 2016, talking about the book and the 'chocolate hockey pucks' to be served at the book launch.
- Always awesome talking to CHOM 97.7. This interview was on March 10th, 2016, with Terry DiMonte + Heather Backman. 
- Read Mike Cohen's March 9th column in the Suburban about "Last Game at The Forum" here.
- Photos from the book featured on the MTL Blog's facebook page on March 7th, 2016.
- Here's an in-depth interview I did on March 5th, 2016, with CJAD host Toula Drimonis all about the project and how it came to be. The interview also features a discussion about my TVO/CBC doc Man of Grease.

Download the full press clippings kit for the project here.

Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur and Forum anthem singer André Ouellet

About the book and to Purchase...

The 72-page "Last Game at The Forum", a Limited Edition volume released on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the last Montreal Canadiens game at the Montreal Forum, features:

- 11”x9” glossy coffee-table format with bilingual English/French text
- 65 powerful colour and black + white 35mm photos, shot on March 11, 1996
- Historical images of the Montreal Forum from the Ville de Montréal Archives
- A foreword by Ronald Corey, President of the Montreal Canadiens from 1982-1999
- An Artist’s Statement outlining the unexpected way that this project came to be
- The Artist's signature

Order your limited edition, signed* copy of “Last Game at The Forum” securely with PayPal using the pulldown menu here:


Prices include shipping, handling and applicable taxes:


To whom should book be signed? (If left blank, booked will just be signed by author and not inscribed to anyone specific):



Note: If you do not use Paypal, or have any ordering questions, please contact Ezra Soiferman at: ezrasoif at gmail dot com, or through this Contact page. Other payment methods are available (i.e. e-transfers for those with Canadian bank accounts).

"Stanley Cup Hats with Kid Mercury", the image referred to at the start
of Bill Brownstein's Montreal Gazette column about the book

Thanks to everyone who emailed me since I announced this 'surprise anniversary' project. Happy to know it's got you reminiscing about the Forum back in the day. This all means a lot to me. I love hearing your stories about going to see games and concerts at the Forum. Keep them coming! (my contact info is above, or contact me at EzraSoiferman.com)

"On Their Feet"

And finally, a little bonus: Part of the fun with the project has been letting people know that if you were at the last game at the Forum and spot yourself in any of the photos in the book, you will receive a free signed print of that image as a token of my appreciation. Let me know...

Please spread the word about this historical art project with friends who love hockey, fellow Habs fans and fans of Montreal.

Go Habs Go...

-Ez

Ezra Soiferman


'Last game' ticket (supplied by www.CanadiensMemorabilia.Com)

"Backs of Heads - Forum"

2 comments:

Burns the Fire said...

Go, Ez, go!!

Ezra Soiferman said...

Thanks so much! :)