Ukranian Catholic Church
Quiet Time with God
The door bangs quietly behind me and a sudden feeling of awe was the instant emotion anyone can perceive once stepping in into this 50 year old church. The colourful ceiling, mosaics on the wall and golden frescoes out stand most churches dotted around the city centre.
Ashbridge Estate
A Better Real Estate
Standing against time the forgotten mansion that once housed a prosperous family seemingly watches everybody change throughout history. What was once surrounded by an extensive land urban planning has slowly taken over its surrounding.
Muskoka
Cottaging in Ontario
Somewhere out on the lake the sound of the loon calls out echoing its distinctive voice. Undisturbed water mirrors a reflection to the unattended floating dock. Alas, this isn’t like any other morning weekend spent in the city.
Stormy Skyline
Mother Nature at Her Best
Swirling above the city dark nimbus cloud clustured in a seemingly eerie end-of-the-world sight for the souls below. Days of unbearable heat Mother Nature has finally ceased to give the metropolis a break to cool off – with a bit of price to pay. The wind howls, the thunder roars, the sun hides and light diminishes behind the rapture of the storm.
Cabbagetown
Strolling down memory lane
Every step was followed by the crunching of fallen autumn leaves on the ground breaking a bit of silence on the quiet Wellesley Street. The brick Victorian houses make ideal and picture perfect dream homes.
Rogers Centre
Take me out to the ball game…
The giant screen magnifies the action out on the field but nothing still beats putting one’s attention on the green. A light taunting from the audience can be heard to distract the pitcher – but all is in good fun game.
Gardiner Museum
Better than Pottery Barn
Quietly and discreetly the couple discusses the beautiful peace of pottery in front of them. Behind the enclosed glass are chinaware from a thousand years ago still in tact. The couple moved as quiet as a mouse afraid that even a slight move could shatter these artifacts
Berczy Park
Commemorating the War of 1812
Ears paid full attention to the brave story of Canada’s most famous heroine Laura Secord. Not even the buzz of the city’s hum distracted the audience who were eager to hear the stories of these characters reflecting the story of Toronto’s history two hundred years ago.
Evergreen Brickworks
We built this city on rock and bricks.
As two joggers go by down the hill a loud noise coming from the bicycle factory echoes and muffles their small chit chat. Families stroll the historic valley over ice cream and cold drinks. A grasshopper whizzes and goes the other direction to the flourishing valley that was once a quarry.
HTO Park
Water, Sand, Blue Sky…and yellow umbrellas.
The man slowly walks close to the urban beach and sat on the concrete bench. Sunbathers basked in the rays of the golden fire above while a cool breeze blows the sail of a nearby boat. The perfect silence will only be seldom broken by a gawking seagull hovering above the yellow umbrellas.
Canada’s Sugar Beach
How sweet it is to be on an urban beach?
Drifting along the lake The Kajama erects its sail like the white clouds above. A beautiful and majestic sea fare it is a contrast to the backdrop of the urban utopia dotted with pink umbrellas. The fabricated sand glistened and enjoyed by the sun bathers who have possibly escaped their workplace for the afternoon to catch a bit of sun.
Kew Balmy Beach
The Hottest Day of the Summer
Mercury breaking 36 degrees with an extreme heat alert all over the city was issued. The Toronto Beach Area is easily a place to cool off for most of the city-dwellers. Although the breeze whispers from the lake, the relief was only temporary as every striking of the sun’s ray delivers a magnified heat to delicate skin.
Dundas Square
Celebrating the Voices of Youth
A beat echos in the background and poetic words were spoken along with it. Those who were curious about the commotion were drawn here to the Unity Festival – Yonge and Dundas, reveled as the beating heart of the city, quickly turns into place where people are united. At the corner of the square, graffiti artists spray fumes of lustrous colours not on a wall but on canvasses, their art shows that it doesn’t have to be rebelious but rather could be much appreciated as well.
Smart Shortcut
Taking Street Art To A Whole New Level
Graffiti framed on the wall, somehow it manages to look more of an art couture than street vandalism. The alley resembles an art gallery sans the roof above it. The colour on both walls sprite an unused space and a forgotten path. It really does pay to take to the side streets every now then.
(Smart Shortcut is located on Callaghan Lane, One block north of Dundas on Parliament)
Nathan Philips Square
Outdoor Art Exhibition
Paintings, Sculpture, Photographs. On Paper, On canvas, on a sheet of cloth. Papier Mache, Pottery, Mixed Media. Everything from anything you can think art can be made of is sold. Every tent is fully attended by its own artist waiting to be interrogated by those who admire them. To those who are curious may be dubious about the meaning of each beloved piece but for those who express interest had much more openness to them in the same way the artist sees his creation. As I look to my lens I found something I was happy to have found something in this piece.
Gibraltar Point
The Haunted Island Lighthouse
A young man admires the tower imagining what it must have been like as a working nautical guide to Lake Ontario more than a hundred years ago. What was once a tower much closer to the shore now stood behind a bush trail meters away from a bike path. A family tourists takes a closer look of the haunted landmark, perhaps hoping to get a glimpse of the infamous wandering ghost.
Honest Ed’s
“There’s no place like this place, anyplace!”
What could probably be the second brightest corner in the city, next to Dundas Square, the neon lights read ‘Honest Ed’s’ flash like a Vegas strip bar. Sign that says “Come in, and find out!” lure unsuspecting passersby, window displays that chant bargain deals from anything to everything imaginable. More than just a place to shop, this place has turned into an official city landmark. A bargain centre like this only happens once in a lifetime.
Fort York
“The Encampment”
The eerie glowing camp makes a stark contrast to the skyline a few miles away. Tents illuminate like ghosts from the past of soldiers who have defended the same land we stand today. Each pitched monument tells a former life the same way a tomb would have read the importance of those who once were alive. From the distance the living stays oblivious of the importance of these historic makeshift gravesite.
UofT Pharmacy Building
Floating Room
Suspended
Above the cafeteria
Great minds are
In effect
Of hopefully someday
Changing the future.
In its architecture
The floating room
Is an inspiration
Like a thinking bubble
That anything
Is possible
With the right structure
Any idea
With the right support
Can be made
Into Reality.
Great Minds
Of the Future
Are in Effect.
Part of the Tunnel Vision Project
Native Child Services of Toronto
The Longhouse
Lamps
Dotted along the longhouse
Produce
An ambient light
That resembles a fireplace.
The wood
– Cedar Wood
Carved, intertwined.
A Simple Pattern
With a seeming lesson
That reminds us
We are all connected
To nature
And within ourselves.
He stands aback
Then takes a closer look
At the detail
Perhaps a reflection
A lesson
To himself.
Part of the Tunnel Vision Project
Church of Holy Trinity
When God opens his door
You wouldn’t think that the church could hold a capacity for hundreds of parishioners. The exteriour has an impression of a chapel-like house of god but the moment one walks in is a gasp of awe. The glass windows vibrate in colours and chandeliers align like it is meant to direct you straight to the altar. In silence, visitors are stricken that the lord may be listening as hush words are spoken from every forms of tongues.
Lake Ontario
Seeing Blue everywhere
There was a cool breeze, the sun was shining, the water was calm and all you could see was blue – it had been the perfect day to depart from the centre of the city and embark to the other side of the island. At the end of the pier, you could look out on to the horizon and just forget all about it.
This.Is.My.Toronto 