In the year 2000, just before the city of Ottawa amalgamated the surrounding areas, I went along all the roads that crossed the city’s boundaries as they then existed. I found ten spots on the city’s borders where signs had been installed marking the city limits. There were different kinds of signs with different population numbers: 324 thousand; 780 thousand; and one million.

At that time, everything behind these signs was part of the city of Ottawa, and everything in front of them was outside the city’s jurisdiction. I photographed each of the signs from ten paces away — ten paces, that is, outside the municipal boundaries — and looked toward the city. Together these signs make visible some of the geopolitical limits of the city of Ottawa in the year 2000.