Jun 28, 2017 |
by William Kendall @WilliamKendall1
A century and a half on and still looking fresh faced.
William Kendall, Photoblogger: National Arts Centre
2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation for Canada. In 1867, the British colonies of North America were united into the Dominion of Canada after years of negotiation and work between delegates of all parties. What started with four provinces- Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick- has grown to become ten provinces and three territories in a country known around the world for breathtaking scenery, friendly people, hockey, maple syrup, and a wry sense of humour- among other things.
Our Fathers Of Confederation came from different backgrounds, with different concerns for their part of what would end up becoming Canada. Their differences were mitigated in the first half of the 1860s by what they were seeing south of the border- open war between the North and South, and the ambitions of Americans to look north to annex British holdings. While the Civil War reunited one country, it inadvertently helped foster the creation of another, one that retains the Westminster style of parliamentary democracy and ties to the Crown that remain strong today.
William Kendall, Photoblogger: National War Memorial
This anniversary year is a big one for us to celebrate. The celebration does bring with it some introspection, because the history of the country goes back much further than 150 years. Ten thousand years and more, when you factor in the First Nations presence on this continent- something that we often have overlooked, and the legacy of the past is something we still have to come to terms with. In another way, this year marks the centennial of a pivotal battle- Vimy Ridge- as part of a war in which the country came into its own. More to be introspective about.
I live in the national capital region, and Ottawa and Gatineau are certainly busy in the lead up to Canada Day. This is home base to several national museums and numerous local museums, and each are playing a role in the occasion. There are projects that are either finished or scheduled to be finished for the day, while others are longer term. Our Parliament Buildings, something that first comes to mind when one thinks of this city, are undergoing a multi-year renovation and restoration process that will see the work continue on for another decade. Scaffolding and work sites there are to be easily found around some of the buildings.
Other projects have had the anniversary year in mind. Our National Gallery has finished up a re-organization of its Canadian galleries, integrating First Nations works from time immemorial with the more conventional landscapes and portraits Canadian artists had been doing since the days of New France. Where before the two collections had been kept separate, now they are part of the same cohesive whole, and that reflects itself in the new direction, which has just re-opened to public viewing.
Our Museum of History has spent some years on a major reorganization of its permanent gallery, Canada Hall, bringing in the First Nations architect who designed the building in the first place to consult on the new way of telling the story of our history. During that time, other parts of the museum have been open, most notably the First Nations halls and spaces for temporary exhibits, but having Canada Hall re-opened will be a welcome sight.
William Kendall, Photoblogger: Canadian Museum of History
William Kendall, Photoblogger: The Great Hall, Canadian Museum of History
Our National Arts Centre, which was a legacy of our centennial year, sits a short walk away from Parliament, and in the last few months has been the scene of much work. While concerts and performances have continued inside the building, a glass structure has gone up around parts of the building, something that as it has progressed has done well in off-setting the Sixties era architecture. That new structure will be accessible to the public for Canada Day, with the orchestra putting on an annual concert inside.
William Kendall, Photoblogger: Centre Block, Parliament Hill
While a lot of the celebration is coming from the federal government as a whole, the city governments on both sides of the Ottawa River have gotten in on it as well, in activities and events that are taking place over the course of the year. That includes hosting embassies throughout the year to present aspects of their own countries for a day. It also includes special events such as MosaiCanada, a horticultural show set to open on the Quebec shore for the summer on Canada Day, or the winter event Crashed Ice. It includes public access to the mighty Chaudiere Falls in the river, something that has long been held off at a distance for the public. And it includes a summer long multimedia show taking place in what will, next year, be an underground LRT station.
What does it mean to be Canadian? I think a lot of what makes us who we are is defined by the vastness of the land. The wide prairies, the endless tundra and rough Canadian Shield. The rivers and valleys. The coastal landscapes. The rugged mountains. It’s shaped our national character in many ways. A mature country can both look at itself critically while marking its history and the path it has taken in a positive way. This anniversary year has something of each- sombre reflection, commemoration, and celebration. Where the next 150 years takes us? We shall see.
Odds are, though, that there won’t be a Toronto Maple Leafs team winning the Stanley Cup in that time though. Sorry, Leafs fans, but it’s not going to happen.
William Kendall, Photoblogger: Notre Dame and the National Gallery of Canada
You can follow William on his writing blog, Speak Of The Devil, his photoblog Ottawa Daily Posts, and Twitter @WilliamKendall1.
What will your area celebrate this year?
CLICK TO TWEET: Celebrating 150 Years of Canada #amblogging #photography #Cananda @williamkendall1 @realmojo68
CLICK TO TWEET: #Photoblogger William Kendall celebrates 150 years of #Canada. @williamkendall1 @realmojo68 #franklymydearmojo
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May 17, 2017 |
Tulips
by William Kendall @WilliamKendall1
Photo by William Kendall
If there can be a positive legacy of war, spring floral colours are a good one.
At the end of the Second World War, the Netherlands were liberated by Canadian forces. During the war, the Dutch Crown Princess Juliana had found refuge in Ottawa with her daughters, one of whom was born here. As thanks, the Dutch royal family sent tulip bulbs to Canada, a tradition they have kept up ever since. In the years that followed, those bulbs, and more being bought by the federal government, were planted in various spots in the city. By 1953, the idea of a formal tulip festival was proposed and initiated by the Canadian landscape photographer Malak Karsh, a local photographer who had been enjoying capturing the tulips as they bloomed each May. If his name sounds familiar, it should- Malak was the brother of the famed Ottawa portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh, and the two brothers pursued their common love of photography with different subjects.
The festival has carried on ever since, evolving over time, but always centered on the tulip displays. Beds of tulip bulbs are planted in the fall in parkland both in Ottawa and Gatineau, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. By late April the tulips are showing themselves, just in time for blooming in May. The festival takes place over a few days, ending on the Victoria Day weekend, and each year, weather plays a factor in the peak time of the bloom. Some years it’s early, some years it’s later. This year, as of this writing, I suspect the last weekend will be a good one for visitors.
And it brings in the visitors. Locals and tourists come to the parks and flower beds where the tulips are in their full glory. Photographers are to be found everywhere with cameras taking pictures. Some of the flower beds are arranged with patio stones leading into the middle of them, with posing for pictures specifically in mind. Weekends tend to be when it’s busiest around the tulips, so for a local like me, it’s easier to photograph during the middle of the week on a sunny afternoon.
There are numerous locations. The Rideau Canal has numerous flower beds along its length in the downtown core, filled with tulips. Where the Canal widens into Dow’s Lake, the largest number of tulips for any one location can be found- Commissioner’s Park, a spot that’s ideal for a pleasant walk, with a rich variety of bulbs and colours providing a feast for the eye.
There are other locations- Major’s Hill Park is a particularly splendid spot, with its grand views of the city skyline and multiple tulip beds. The national museums have tulip beds close by, as well as a quiet spot most people don’t know about, the Garden Of The Provinces, which lies at the western edge of the downtown core. Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor-General, and the Mackenzie King Estate in the Gatineau Hills are other ideal locations for tulips. And there are the tulips on Parliament Hill itself. They fill the flower beds out in front of Centre Block, providing a visual delight to visitors to our seat of government. Of course that doesn’t even take into account the countless tulips planted in private gardens across the city by residents.
But one of my favourite spots for the tulips is over on the Gatineau side of the river. On the grounds of the Canadian Museum of History, overlooking the river, with a great view of Parliament Hill, one will always find a bed of tulips planted and looking colourful in May. The bed is named for Malak himself, and it is a fitting place to pay tribute to the founder. He once took a photograph from this spot, a photograph of floating lumber and a boat or two managing the log drive on the river, with Parliament Hill as its backdrop. That very image was on our Canadian dollar bill for many years- with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth on the other side, an image taken from an official portrait of her done by his brother Yousuf. It’s a delightful spot to come to when the tulips are in bloom- the vivid flowers, the mighty river, and two cities and a grand landscape around you.
I’m lucky to live here. Throughout the period when the tulips are in bloom, I can go see them at my leisure. Visitors from out of town come by the legions to see them, to photograph them (becoming what I call the tulip paparazzi), and to delight in the multitude of colours. It’s a wonderful tradition that serves to be a great treat in the national capital.
Pink Tulips by William Kendall, Photoblogger
White and Red Tulips by William Kendall, Photoblogger
Red Tulip Beds by William Kendall, Photoblogger
Mixed Tulips by William Kendall, Photoblogger
Tulip Festival by William Kendall, Photoblogger
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear . . . : William Kendall: Tulips.
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Jan 4, 2017 |
William Kendall: Photoblogger
by William Kendall @WilliamKendall1
From Molly Jo:
I met William online. If you’ve followed Frankly, My Dear . . . for the last few years, you’ll know he’s a regular commenter. His photo posts have always drawn me in, making him one of my Top Ten choices for guest blogging.
~#~
Photo by William Kendall
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Well, maybe not when you’re just carrying your camera along on your walk and inadvertently click, getting a blurry image or the side of your pants. That just qualifies as a “delete immediately” picture.
I’ve been doing a writing blog for several years now, called Speak Of The Devil. Over there I usually post three times a week. It’s a realistic pace- any more than that, it’s too much work, too much of a chance of annoying your readers with too many posts. Over there I tend to specialize in humour and irreverence and being disreputable.
And then there’s the photoblog.
I started following a handful of photoblogs before I started my own, beginning with St. Louis Daily Photo. Others gradually followed, and I decided to have a go at it myself. And so in the fall of 2013, Ottawa Daily Photo came into being. My city, the capital city of Canada, didn’t seem to be well represented in that field. I have seen older blogs come and go from around here, but at the time, nobody seemed all that active in documenting the city. And so I decided to dive on in.
I’ve recently moved into my fourth year of daily photoblogging, and unlike the writing blog, keeping up with daily posts isn’t that much of a problem- as long as you give yourself a head start and set posts up in advance, because you never know when real life might make demands on your time. Early on in the blog, I was just feeling my way through things, finding my proverbial feet. Over time, I got more and more followers, particularly after joining City Daily Photo.
What’s that, you ask? Well, City Daily Photo is an online group of like-minded photographers from every corner of the world, publishing either daily or most days of the week. It’s been going on for years now, with cities and regions represented from across the globe. Many of the blogs I follow belong to the group, and I’ve come to follow other photo bloggers who might not be part of that group, but in one way or another express themselves through photography. And I sometimes see writers who will on occasion do a post just featuring photography, if there’s an event in their area, or if they took a particularly pleasant hike somewhere.
So how does one keep finding new things to photograph, years later? Lots of different ways. As a member of CDP, I can tell you that at the start of each month, there’s a theme day chosen by one of the members for others to have their take on. The list is released early in the year, so you can be looking for something months in advance. That’s eleven posts right there, with the January post always being a best of the year theme.
At the moment one of the things I’m doing is keeping track of a major project, typically once a month. Our National Arts Centre, a cultural complex that’s home to a major national symphony orchestra, as well as English and French theatre, is undergoing a large addition, a glass structure that’ll be offsetting some of the harsh 1960s era architecture, open in time for next year. I thought it was a good idea to start documenting the process from time to time, and it does give one a regular subject to post about, aside from everything else I will post on.
Then there’s thinking like a tourist. When you live in a place, odds are you don’t really do the things tourists do- growing up west of Toronto here in Ontario, the family rarely went up the CN Tower, or out to Niagara Falls. As a photoblogger, you show the things tourists do come to see. In my case that might include a tour of our Parliament Buildings. The city has a tremendous wealth of statues and monuments all over; photographing them certainly provides plenty of material for photography.
Photo by William Kendall
Events are also a huge source for photobloggers to work from. In February we have Winterlude, a celebration of winter centered around the frozen ice surface of the Rideau Canal, with snow sculptures and ice sculptures at locations in Ottawa and Gatineau. In May we have a Tulip Festival that starts off what for me is a very busy summer- Doors Open follows that, Canada Day after that, and Buskerfest pretty much give me enough material to last through summer. Other times of the year, I might photograph in the National Gallery or a museum- either the various national museums or any of the local history museums. And architecture is another photo subject- we have a lot of Gothic architecture here, in churches especially, but also the Parliament buildings themselves, a set of buildings that evoke castles- or Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.
Photo by William Kendall
I’ve always got a camera on hand; you never know when a day might bring a particularly lovely sunset, or foggy conditions that evoke a sense of mystery. You might come across an adorable dog or a divine cat. You might find yourself looking up at a ghost sign or mural you haven’t noticed before, or at a building that looks different in late afternoon sun. You might see a fresh angle on a building you’ve photographed before. You might notice a cluster of trees, for instance, that you might make a mental note to capture them when the fall colours are at their height.
And then again, you might just end up mistakenly clicking on your camera and capturing a severe close up of that ice cream stain on your shirt.
What are some of your favorite photoblogs?
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear…: William Kendall: Photoblogger.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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