realia

tourist spot

Inukshuk at the CN Tower

The area around the CN Tower is undergoing some change, with the construction of a large aquarium.  This little inukshuk is new.  I like its face, don't you?

every day...

...I walk by the Canada Permanent Trust Building, and admire it.  Finally I started carrying around my 'real' camera again so I could catch some of the details.   Some of these are taken from a (ninth floor) window in my office, and some from the sidewalk on my way home.   Imagine what your world would be like if there weren't beautiful things to look at.  

No, I don't want to imagine it either.

all wet

Somebody rode her bike to work today.  Somebody didn't check the weather forecast before doing so. 

got a thing for...

...brick.  Still walking down Pearl Street every day.  Funny little mostly back street.  I'd like it if my office was on Pearl Street.

it was a slaughter

Gusty, rainy, windy. Tree carnage. Mass umbrella slaughter.  I won't even talk about what happened to the CN Tower.

I guess this is the spot where you present the umbrella carcasses back to the city. Maybe it's where the magic cleaning up faeries come and send them off to umbrella heaven.

Disappearing tower. From Windsor Street near Front Street, Toronto

Continuing to disappear. CN Tower, from Queens Quay at Rees, Toronto

walking home, it's old brick

 

A section of the Toronto Hydro-Electric Dynamo House. This is an addition to the original building (not shown, to the left), built in 1889. I'd like to come back at a time of day more conducive for shooting pictures of both lovely sections. Bay Street near Dundas, Toronto

Two kinds of brickwork on this gorgeous Mercer Street building. It's slated to become a facade on a new development.

Another view, including window reflecting sky and pointed edges bordering the bottom. Mercer Street, Toronto.

After work I walk up to Canadian Tire in search of some camp chairs to have at home to take up to the rooftop patio and across the road to the lake.  I found some I liked, and lugged the suckers home with their shoulder-carry bags.  Of course these things are never as heavy in the store as they are halfway home.  I expect also they'd feel lighter if they were being lugged to a camp site or a beach than they do over sidewalks teeming with city dwellers.  I was happy to stop a number of times to take photos.  It was the brick photos that called out to be published today.

those billboards, I mean art

I had posted a photo of an intriguing billboard on my photo journal blog (now merged with this blog) a few weeks ago.  This very morning I noted that a smaller ad board nearby had some equally intriguing photographs posted in place of ads.  I knew this stuff was an art installation of some sort, but I didn't know why it was there or where it came from. 

A fella called Serge stumbled across that post today and kindly pointed me to the source of the photos on those billboards.  It's a project by Jim Goldberg, presented at the corner of Spadina and Front Streets, as part of Scotiabank's CONTACT Photography Festival. 

So I stopped on my way home and took some more photos (in very bright, read: bad, light).  I love public art installations, and I love the  compassion behind this project, in which the subjects were invited to take part in telling their stories.  I'm all about that.  

The sun was so bright, I couldn't tell what the photo below would look like until I got home.  Technically it's shit, but I like that it shows the context (condo-land) of where this art installation is located - you can see bits of the installation amidst the surroundings.  And there's me in the bottom corner, taking that blind shot. 

a door and a bulletin board

It wasn't so bad going back to work after the long weekend.  I started a new walking route, taking a longer way to and from work, via Richmond Street.

 

Richmond Street, Toronto

 

Spadina Avenue, Toronto

 

daughters and windows and happy long weekend

 

Daughter Carly

Daughter Kelsey

Beautiful windows on King Street, from Fynn's of Temple Bar.

Beautiful King Street windows reflecting...

This filter worked out great for this windows shot! Duncan Street at Adelaide.

After work I meet up with Ceri, Carly, Kelsey and a couple of her friends for Beer O'clock - an extra happy one as it's a long weekend.  Pleased with myself for getting nice portraits of both my daughters.  I've had a nasty cold all week, and entering into the weekend feeling 100% better.  The three day weather forecast is stellar.  I'm blessed.