Some random photos of the buildings and spaces at the Distillery District in Toronto.
Ivy, Fire Escape, Distillery District
The central plaza in the middle of the distillery district is occupied by this interpretive sculpture designed to reflect the history of the complex, and provide a focal point for people to converge upon. I don’t know how comfortable it would be to sit beneath it; while it certainly provides shade, all that copper would make for a terrific radiator on a summer day.
Distillery Sculpture
I went for a more abstract look with this composition – this is about angles and forms, and visually leading lines. The structure is a chute used to move barrels of liquor from the top floor of the distillery to the waiting trucks to be loaded and sent out.
Distillery Chute
The sign of the distillery still graces the covered walkway between two brick and stone structures in the distillery complex.
Some random finds from around the urban center of Toronto. These were in the area of King and Queen Streets, between Bathurst and Spadina for the most part.
The first three were found on Queen Street. Queen Street is a bit rougher around the edges, but in a kind of hipster/grunge way. It looks worse than it is – I ran into a panhandling junkie getting set up for the morning, baby-sitting his friend’s Rottweiler puppy. We had a great chat about my Rolleiflex, he didn’t even ask me for money, and the Rotty came over to me of her own free will, licked my hand, and rubbed up against my legs. That’s pretty emblematic for how friendly Toronto is – even the panhandler’s dog is nice.
Bang-On T-shirts
I think it’s the wildest coolest thing that a dive bar would decorate their wall with a mural of a face, smoking and talking on the phone, and giant
insect sculptures crawling over the upper floors. It makes me actually want to go in and find out what’s so special about the place – I bet they have some really funky live music.
Cameron House
Isn’t this a terrific cultural contrast? Poutine next door to Falafel. About the only way you could outdo that is to put a Kosher deli next door to a Carolina Pulled Pork shop. But it wouldn’t surprise me if such a juxtaposition existed somewhere in Toronto.
Poutine Falafel
Over on King Street, we’re getting a bit more upscale with this pan-asian restaurant. This stretch of King was where all the beautiful people attending TIFF were hanging out.
Pan-Asian, King Street
Perfect Leather looks sketchy on the outside, but from what I could see through their windows, this looks to be THE place to shop for leathers and fabrics if you’re in the garment trade in Toronto.
I know I’m repeating hydrants in the same post, but they’re substantially different takes on the same subject.
Hydrant, Graffiti
I also find it interesting that we have Mueller hydrants in Washington DC but they look very different.
Mueller Hydrant, TorontoMueller Hydrant, K Street, DC
Another pay phone shot, showing the much-abused state of the poor neglected utility. I see a lot more pay phones around Toronto, but still not many people using them.
Two versions of the same scene- which do you think works better?
Cine Cycle – WideCine Cycle – Close
I’m still on the fence – the wide shot has that extra splash of color from the door on the next building, and the visually leading lines, but the tight shot pulls your attention to the sign.
Two streetcars passing in the early morning light on Queen Street in Toronto. I loved the way the sunlight passed through the gap in the buildings to spotlight the distant streetcar.
Streetcars, Morning Light
I was the first passenger on the line that morning – it’s one of the double articulated streetcars.
Bicycle culture is widespread in Toronto – lots of people ride them everywhere. The Toronto Bikeshare is older than some, and well established. I found myself photographing them as part of my work on public transportation (or at least as car alternatives).
Toronto Bikeshare
While THIS bike is obviously non-functional, it is extremely cool. It was imported from India god knows how long ago. With Canadian winters being what they are, it could be only a couple years in-country. This was found on Queen Street, a very bohemian and trendy part of town, still a little rough around the edges. There did not appear to be any particular association between the pedicab and a store or restaurant – it was just there.
Toronto Pedicab
This was spotted outside the TIFF Bell Lightbox theater complex during the opening weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival. It is emblematic of the multi-cultural, open-minded Canadian attitude toward just about everything. Canada, Argentina, Gay… it’s all good.
Ok, this one gets its own shot because it’s just too cool for school and doesn’t play well with others. I was up in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival last weekend. I rented an apartment on Fort York Boulevard, right down by Lake Ontario. The apartment had a view of the downtown skyline, including the CN Tower, which is the tallest structure in North America, and if I recall correctly, the 15th tallest in the world. As such, it attracts lightning strikes. I was lucky enough to be there for a late-summer thunderstorm, and to photograph it through my apartment window during that storm, and catch a shot of the CN Tower getting struck.
CN Tower, Lightning
I promise you it was far more impressive in person than it is in the photo.
These two portraits are natural light portraits I took of my parents in their kitchen. These were play-around shots with my Contax RTS III and the 50mm f1.4 Planar lens for it. I wanted to see what the out-of-focus areas looked like when shot wide open. I think the shot of my mom with my dad in the background has an extremely painterly quality to it and really shows off the lens’ capability. Now it makes me want to use that lens more!
The grille of a 1947(I think – might have been a 46 or a 48) Lincoln Continental. The hood is raised in this shot to show off the engine.
Lincoln Continental Grille
a 1950 Ford hotrod. Note the modern steering wheel and stereo alongside the otherwise traditional dashboard.
50 Ford Hotrod Dash
The Lincoln Continental had it’s spare tire mounted on the rear instead of in the fenders, the “continental” style. I’m not sure if the name had anything specific to do with the choice of how to mount the spare tire or if that was coincidence. The downside is that mounting the spare that way makes access to the otherwise commodious trunk rather difficult, as you have to lift your bags and parcels over the spare to access the top-loading trunk. I drove a 1962 Nash Metropolitan in high school that had a similar spare tire mount, the only thing keeping it from being a royal pain was the fact that the car and the tire were small enough that it was easy to clear the tire. For awkward cargo, the seat-back folded down to allow easier entry to the trunk.
Lincoln Continental Tire
Not your neighbor’s BMW – this is the hood of an Isetta, a post-war compact BMW that is very much a spiritual ancestor to the Smart car, except it was made by BMW, and had a front-opening door to which the steering wheel and speedometer were attached and swung out of the way to grant access. Not exactly a 5-star crash safety rating. Isettas are climbing in value now, but I can remember when they were not much more expensive than my Met.
Isetta Hood
The fuel cap to a replica AC Cobra. The original AC Cobras are now so valuable (a vintage 427 Cobra is well north of $500K, and with racing history or other special qualifications, they sell for over $1M!) that probably 99% of the ones you will see on the road and 90% of the ones at car shows are replicas. This one happened to be an exceptionally well made replica with highly accurate details, like the fuel filler cap.
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