Posts Tagged ‘people’

Good Friday procession

Posted: April 20, 2019 in events, people
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‘The Passion of Christ’ procession starting from St. Francis Assisi Roman Catholic Church at Mansfield Avenue and Grace Street in Little Italy.  This tells the story of the events leading up to the Crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday.

people in front of a grey church, stone and brick, St. Francis Assisi, early spring, getting ready for a good friday passion of christ procession

a man with a crown of thorns and blood on his face and carrying a large cross walks in a parade, with a man behind him dressed as a roman soldier

a woman in long bronw robes and plaid loose fitting head scarf, carrying long palm fronds in a parade

small group of men in a parade, wearing long robes and carrying bread in the shape of a large wreath, a banner is behind them that describes the betrayal of Jesus by Judas

a man dressed as a priest in long black and white robes walks in a passion of christ procession in front of a large banner that has a bible verse from Luke 23

a bearded priest carrying a baby doll wrapped in white swaddling clothes in a passion procession

a small group of people pushing a cart with a statue of Jesus on the cross, but only the feet of Jesus and the heads of the people are in view

close up of a statue of Jesus just showing his hands and arms tied with rope

people from the Mammola Social Club, wearing yellow sashes, push a cart on wheels with a statue of Jesus in a passion of Christ procession on the streets

men in parade

a woman bundled up in grey tam and scarf over the bottom of her face and carrying a blue umbrella, walking with some men in a passion of christ good friday procession

a group of people push a large flat wooden cart on wheels on a parade, cart has statues of it, characters from the story of the passion of christ, the events leading up to the crucifixion

two women in a parade. The one in front is wearing an elaborate green outfit (only top part can be seen)

two women singing, reading from pages in a yellow folder as they walk on the street

a statue of mary looking a statue of Christ on the cross in a parade

passion of christ procession with lots of people walking down a small hill on Montrose Ave, banners, statue of Christ on the cross, Canadian flags too

banner and flag carriers for Banda L N S de fatima, a Portuguese band from toronto, as they march in a parade

a young man plays a tuba in a marching band he is wearing bright blue sun glasses

men in blue uniforms and blue hands marching in a band, tuba player in the foreground,

 

Using their outside voices

Posted: April 7, 2019 in events, people
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Yesterday there was a large protest in front of Queens Park. Thousands of people from around the province gathered to demonstrate against Doug Ford and his Conservative party proposed cuts to education funding. It was so crowded that you couldn’t move through the center of the park in front of the parliament buildings. So many people were arriving by TTC that there were line-ups just to get out of Queens Park station. Buses, some say 170 arrived from out of town, were parked on both sides of Queens Park Circle. In the beginning, the road was open but police soon closed it along with some of the other streets in the area. Here are some of the people and the signs they carried:

below: Time to use our outside voices. There were lots of families with kids there.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders.Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Ford Faild. Ours to recover. There were a number of signs that played on the licence plate motif as one of the things that Ford wants to change is the motto on the plates.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding,

below: Queens Park from the east.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park, seen from the east side, with the statue of Queen Victoria in the middle

below: The protest was organized by 4 unions. Many people carried pre-printed signs but there was an abundance of hand made signs in the crowd as well.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: From Kitchener, a “Cuts Hurt Kids” sign.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders.

below: Another licence plate: “Importanter than education”.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, sign is made to look like an Ontario licence plate, Ontario making cuts

below: Drug Ford is a villain in big letters

two hand made signs on brown cardboard, one says we are the future and the other says Doug Ford in the villain. Both drawn and made by kids and being held by kids. Queens Park education budget protest

below: Oosteroff’s mom would be very busy.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Queens Park Circle, south end. Buses letting passengers/protesters off.

below: Job losses aren’t saved by retirements, they’re stolen from the young work force.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Think before it’s illegal. Tax cuts for the rich or cuts to education?

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Those who can teach, those who can’t become premier of Ontario.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Art matters.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, says art matters. Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: I’ve seen better cabinets at IKEA

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, I've seen better cabinets at IKEA

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Communication means talking and listening.

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald stands beside a sign that depicts the Conservative caucus as Doug Ford’s puppets. Ford pulls the strings and they all dance along.

below: Kids are cool, cuts are cruel. We are the future, the future needs funds.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: #cutshurtkids in colour

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, child on adult shoulders. signs says #cutshurtkids painted by hand

below: A great visual for DoFo flushing our education.

person holding a toilet seat protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, words written on seat say DoFo flushing education

below: A math question? How many one dollar beers is education worth?

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, back to camera, with a group of men, sign says how many dollar beers is education worth

below: Ford Wars, may the budget be with you

person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding, signs says Ford Wars

below: Fordnation has no imagination – unlike this sign.

child on adult shoulders. person holding a placard protesting Doug Fords proposed cuts to education funding,

below: Give me back my education Doug! and another Yours to Recover.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Climbing trees for a better view

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Another attempt at a crowd shot.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

below: Size does matter and a lovely spelling mess.

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

Crowds at a protest at Queens Park,

a day of action and morning light

Posted: March 29, 2019 in events, locations, old buildings, transportation
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The other day I heard rumours of a subway protest – i.e. a protest over the potential uploading of the responsibility for the TTC from the city to the province.   On the 27th of March there was a “day of action” at 40 subway stations during the morning rush, starting at 7:30 a.m.

below: Walking toward Eglinton subway station with the sun shining from behind me. Golden glass.

condo development, crane, single houses in the foreground, near Yonge & Eglinton

I couldn’t find anyone at Eglinton station (was I too early?) but there were 4 people handing out leaflets inside Bloor station.  I also saw this guy with an OPSEU flag by Wellesley station.

a man holds an OPSEU (a union) flag outside Wellesleysubway station as he stands with a woman while someone is taking their picture.

So much for the idea of a blog post about this day of action.  But it was a beautiful morning so I enjoyed the walk down Yonge street.  I don’t often walk here that early and I was surprised how quiet it was.  The light was also interesting.

Yonge Street

below: A mix of old and new architecture, looking south towards the old St. Charles tavern clock tower that is being incorporated into a new development.

looking south on Yonge street on a sunny morning, sun is shining on the St. Charles tavern clock tower, tall buildings behind it

below: Near Yonge & Bloor.  Preservation of an old building… and very big crane.

old brick three storey building stands alone by a construction site as new development goes on around it. large crane in the background

two fire trucks parked on a street of high rise and midsized apartment buildings

below: Looking north from Dundas under a watchful eye.

people cross Yonge street on the north side of Dundas, a big picture of an eye is on a billboard looking down over the street

looking up at relief sculpture and column on an old building that says erected 1905, a new condo tower is behind it

reflections in the large window of a building, people, bikes, and old city hall

below: Looking north from Queen Street.  The Eaton Centre is on the left in the foreground.  Play the game of ‘name that building’ or ‘I remember when’.

looking up (north) on Yonge street,

a blurry streetcar as it stops at a stop where two people are waiting

people crossing the street in front of a streetcar that is waiting for a red light. At thewest side of intersection of Queen and University

people waiting for a streetcar on Queen at Bay, standing outside a TD bank that has a video screen with a very large woman on it.

below: This was the largest group of “protesters” that I saw.  It was more of an information session than a protest, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

people handing out leaflets and brochures at Osgoode station, on the sidewalk outside the station exit. University Ave

below: People headed to work as I started home.

inside Osgoode subway station, at platform level, one subway is just closing its doors getting ready to leave, people are headed up the stairs.

 

protest and counter protest

Posted: March 26, 2019 in events, people
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On Saturday there was another small protest by a group that goes by the name PEGIDA which is actually an acronym for a German organization that can probably be called far right.    The protest attracted a counter protest by a larger group of people.  By the time I passed by, police and metal barricades stood between the two groups.  Apparently the protest had planned to walk down University Ave. but the counter protest prevented them from doing so.

a line of police and their bikes stands between two groups of protesters on University Ave.

below: “Smash racism, no platform for fascists”

smash racists says a yellow banner

a woman holds a small painted sign that says immigrants belong here

a family, parents and children, hold 4 signs at a protest

a man in a red MAGA baseball cap stands on one side of a metal barricade

an older woman and a man with a red MAGA baseball cap stand on either side of placards at a protest

a young man wearing a red MAGA baseball cap holds a Canadian flag on which a black cross has been drawn

man filming crowd at a protest, two Canadian flags beside him

below: Patriots of Canada Against the Islamization of the West .  P is for Patriot, whatever you think that that word means or implies.

a brown skinned man in a grey sweatchirt mocks the crowd at a protest rally

a woman with dyed auburn hair is making a video of herself at a protest on her cell phone

a woman with dyed auburn hair is making a video of herself at a protest on her cell phone, two men are also in the photo, one has an orange toque and a Jewish defence league T-shirt and the other has a white baseball cap that says Jesus is my boss as he takes pictures of the crowd on the other side of the protest

below: “Fascism is a death cult” and “Nationalism is for losers”.

three signs at a protest

a man wears a green and brown bandana over the bottom part of his face and a black hat with an anti-nazi symbol on it.

an older woman with long white hair and sunglasses stands in front of a light purple banner

below: “When the state protects bigots, hate is state sanctioned.”

people and banners on University Ave as a counter protest

Greek Independence Day Parade

Posted: March 25, 2019 in events, locations, people
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Greek Independence Day is March 25, comemorating the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. Prior to that, they had been part of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years, since 1453. Yesterday there was a parade along the Danforth to mark the occasion.

a man in traditional Greek clothing carries a flag in a parade, he is in front of a group carrying a banner

There were people with banners representing many groups including the Cultural Society of Kilkis and Suburbs,

a man in a blue parka carries a banner in a parade, a small flag-like banner for the Cultural Society of Kilkis

the Thessalon Federation of Ontario, and many more,

women in traditional Greek costume carry a banner of the Thessalon Federation of Ontario, a blue banner, in a parade, while others walk behind the banner

a woman in a brown coat and maroon scarf wrapped around her head, holds a Greek flag. Behind her is a boy in traditional greek clothing in a parade

a woman with dark sunglasses and blue coat holds three small flags, two Greek and one Canadian

the crowd cheers and claps as a parade passes by

3 girls posing with a banner, the younger girl holds a Greek flag, they are with a banner representing the Daughters of Penelope

a group of people, older men with kids, Greek Independence day parade

below: There was only one float in the parade. It was a memorial to those who died in the Greek genocide during and after WW1 when the Christian Ottoman Greeks living in Anatolia (now part of Turkey) were killed or driven out.

people in costume on a float commemorating the genocide of Pontos

a girl in red jacket and cap, dark sunglasses, and holding a Greek flag, walks in a parade, with people on the sidewalk watching in the background.

a police man in yellow jacket directs a group of marchers in the Greek Independence Day parade on the Danforth. The group is walking with a large banner with words written in Greek

two kids in traditional Greek costume pose for a picture. The young girl is not amused.

in a parade, people (mostly young boys) carrying a banner for the Knossos society (of Crete), along the Danforth, Greek flags, other people watching

a man in traditional Athenian clothing with pompoms on the toes of his shoes walks in a parade while holding a very large Greek flag

Moccasin Trail to the rainbow

Posted: March 18, 2019 in locations, nature
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Moccasin Trail is a street in Don Mills that provides access to the East Don Trail. Starting a walk there looked like a good idea when I checked the map.

yellow metal barrier prevents cars from entering a road that is covered with snow, trees on both sides of the road

I decided that it was worth a try. Going downhill is harder than going uphill on snow and ice so I figured that if I got stuck all I had to do was turn around and go back to my car. In the summer you can drive down to the parking lot.

snow covered road with small trees growing on either side of it, winter, no leaves on the trees

With a little slipping, a little sliding, and a lot of care, I made it. At the bottom of the hill is Moccasin Trail Park.

a picnic bench ina park in winter with snow on the ground

below: The path goes under the DVP to join the East Don Trail (where there was not as much ice!). Except for the constant rumble of traffic in the background, it was very quiet down here today. I only saw two other people (and one dog).

park in winter with a path that leads to a bridge under a road

below: Wild grasses grow in the ditch alongside the Don Valley Parkway along with sumach trees and other shrubs.

wild grasses, brown in winter, grow alongside the Don Valley Parkway

below: A Red-tailed Hawk circles overhead. There were two of them flying above me today. They were magnificent to watch as they circled in the sky – and as I wished that they would come closer, or perhaps even find something to catch. No luck today.

a red tailed hawk flies overhead, blue sky with some light clouds

below: Ducks in the water and traffic on the Don Valley Parkway

two ducks swimming in the Don River, with cars passing by on the Don Valley Parkway

water flows over a low concrete dam on the Don River, winter time, but no snow or ice, no leaves on the trees,

below: Someone has tied this bright and cheerful bird house to the trunk of a tree.

a bright red bird house in a tree, no leaves,

below: One of the biggest reasons why I chose to walk this path today – the rainbow bridge. It’s easily visible from the northbound Don Valley Parkway. Although I don’t drive the DVP on a regular basis, every time I am reminded that I haven’t walked there yet. It was originally painted in the 1970’s by B.C. Johnson, a teenager from Norway. Every time the city painted over it, the rainbow was repainted.

East Don Trail winds towards the bridge that is painted with a rainbow, some traces of the Don Valley Parkway like a green exit sign for Lawrence Avenue, and a couple of tall light stands.

below: In 2013 the arch was repainted with the help of Mural Routes. The interior was also painted in the same rainbow colours.

arched bridge under a railway, over a walking path, that has been painted with a rainbow

These are some of the scenes that are painted inside.

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - on red background, with orange and purple trees, a man walks his dog and a woman pushes a stroller

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - blue and purple children build a white snowman with white trees in the background

scenes from the mural painted inside the rainbow arch bridge - a cyclist on a bike rides along a yellow and orange path past yellow and orange trees

I didn’t explore much beyond the rainbow bridge. That adventure is for another day!

 

UPDATE:  The rest of the trail that can be access from the Moccasin Trail is now covered in a blog post, From Charles Sauriol southward

Graffiti Alley, February

Posted: March 4, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A winter walk down Graffiti Alley and Rush Lane

a lone beige running shoe on the ground beside a pile of snow in Graffiti alley

people taking pictures in graffiti alley

below: Posing with a blue mask (you can also see them in the photo above).

a young woman in a blue mask poses in front of an Uber5000 mural

below: A little red dress with flair

little graffiti stencil, a red dress on a white background

below: TBJ, Toronto blue jay

street art mural of a blue jacy, in stylized geometric shapes, shades of blue

Graffiti Alley in winter

below: A large rose by Josh Creighton

a large stylized rose in a mural in a lane

below: Yin and yang

close up of a spray paint artwork in alley, a yin yang symbol in black and white with red drips of paint running through it

below: Rust, grime, and the remnants of stickers on an old window.

an old window with stickers on it and rusted bars in front of it, graffiti all around it

below: Horst

a text graffiti by horst, yellows and pale pinks

looking down Rush Lane on a winter afternoon, snow and ice on the ground, some people walking

2 young men looking at street art in a lane, a large mural with two black and white mens faces in the foreground

below: This blog post would have been finished a day or two earlier but I fell behind because of this photo. I fell down the rabbit hole when researching these condos. I have since decided that rather than getting bogged down now discussing this development, I would leave it for a later date.  The red face sums it all up.

a sign advertising new Rush condos has been defaced, it is against a wall with street art and graffiti on it

Feel Good Lane

Posted: February 27, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I’m still playing catch up as I go through photos that I took back in the fall. Late in October I went west on St. Clair to visit Feel Good Lane. The lane was officially named in 2016 in memory of Barry Lukensberg. He was a rapper, part of the 512 Crew, who was born and raised in the neighbourhood. He went by the name FeelGood. In 2014 he died in a motorcycle accident in Vietnam.

Just prior to my walk down Feel Good Lane, it had been the canvas for more than 30 street artists. This is what I saw that day. … Back before the snow!

below: The title mural, by SPUDBomb

street art on a brick wall in a lane, text, cursive that says Fell Good Lane, painted in blues, white and pink by Spud bomb .

below: by monicaonthemoon

monica on the moon mural painted on a garage door. Bright colour flash of paint with stencils of girls leap frogging over objects

colourful abstract mural of three birds

below: by Oriah Scott

mural on a garage door in Feel Good Lane by Oriah Scott

behind trees, in the autumn, murals on the sides of garages, TTC streetcar, orange flower, green abstract,

below: This is the front of the same garage in the above photo (with the streetcar). Both were painted Elly Dowson

colourful mural covering all of the front of a building that is a garage, abstract sun in top right corner, blue sky, green hill,

below: Dog mural by @Dr_Roameo

alley with murals painted on garages and on the sides of walls, large grey dog painted on a wall, trash cans and recycling bins in the alley too

below: Raccoons all over the place! A mural by Emily May Rose and Rage Williams.

mural on a garage in an alley, Feel Good Lane, by Emily May Rose and of a white van with lots of green raccoons around it, on top of it, and in the drivers seat

below: The blue landscape is a painting by Leyland Adams

3 murals in Feel Good Lane, one abstract rectangles and bars of colour, one a realistic painting,

below: by Bomi (Bomino San Grantes)

bars, dots, and stripes of colour on a black background, mural in a lane

below: by Cruz1

stylized painting of a womans head, blue skin, white hair, pink background

below: Butterfly face and curly hair – Frannie Potts

painting by Frannie Potts, a street art face on a garage, woman, with large curly afro style hair in pale colours, with a butterfly painted covering her eyes and cheeks.

below: Another Cruz1 creation with a small painting by Bkez (aka Bareket) in the background

gnarly monster face painted on the side of a small wall, bllue, with big yellow teeth and small red eyes

below: by Mska

mural of a deer with birch trees painted on a garage

below: A mural for the 512 Crew,

red and white mural of a man (cartoon like) beside a TTC 512 St. Clair street car, in Feel Good Lane

below: In the back, a mural by Odinamaad (turningwind). In the foreground is the work of Desko Zima

two murals on garage doors in Feel Good Lane, one a green halloween-like scene with silhouettes of bats the other is a marine scene

below: A face in blue and orange by Anya Mielniczek

a mural of a woman's face by Anya Mielniczek

below: On the right, a small piece by Andrew Castro

two murals in Feel Good Lane, face, lines

below: A fox head by Ed Hamer

street art painting of a fox head in profile by Ed Hamer, realistic

below: Three pieces. Chris Perez mural on the left (blocked by a parked car), in the middle and one of a few swirls painted by Flip

murals in Feel Good Lane, including one by Chris Perez in which a car is parked in front of.

below: The white chair is in front of a jellyfish and heart by Psyblimation

white plastic chair outside in alley in front of a mural of a jellyfish and a heart

The project was organized by Julian Back and Kim Lesperance with the help of Team SPUDBomb. Financial support was provided by
StreetARToronto (StART). In addition, $5000 was raised from the community to help finance the project.

Winter Stations 2019

Posted: February 19, 2019 in events, waterfront
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panorama of Woodbine Beach on a February day, art installation in yellows and oranges, lots of people, snow on the ground, winter clothes, Lake Ontario, blue sky with one wispy cloud

This year there were five installations at Woodbine Beach for the annual ‘Winter Stations’ event.   Yesterday, February 18th, was the opening day.  It was also a holiday Monday, Family Day, and lots of people were at the beach.

below: Forest of Butterflies by Luis Enrique Hernandez of Mexico.

close up of orange and yellow shapes that make Firest of Butterflies

part of 'Forest of Butterflies' sculpture in the foreground, along with two boys who are looking at it In the background, standing on a hill of snow, is a man taking a selfie with his golden lab dog

below: The lake was very wavy and rough on Family Day. There was lots of water spraying onto the piles of snow and ice as the waves crashed against the shore.

standing on the snow and ice covered beach in February, wavy day, waves crashing against shore producing spray , people standing and watching

below: ‘Above the Wall’ designed by Americans Joshua Carel and Adelle York.  Climb the stairs and meet people on the platform at the top.

two wooden staircases meet at the top, above an old rusty corrugated metal wall, platform at the top for people to meet

below: ‘Chairavan’ by a team from Sheridan College.

red metal chairs that look like lifeguard stations, part of Winter Stations 2019 at Woodbine Beach,

a woman in a red parka is climbing onto an elevated red metal seat

a young woman in pink snow pants is kneeling on a red metal structure, outdoors, snow,

below: ‘Mind Station’, designed by Tomasz Piotrowski and Łukasz Chaberka from Poland.

the circular art installation 'Mind Station', wood, on the beach beside Lake Ontario on a winter day, two men walking towards it, trees in the distance

below: Interior view – stand on the stumps to look out holes in the roof.

three wood stumps stand upright on the ground, interior of art installation

below: One of the views from the roof.

looking out of a hole in the roof of 'Mind Station' art installation, towards Lake Ontario, other circular holes in the roof

a woman in a tartan scarf walks past 'Mind Station', an art installation at Woodbine Beach made of plywood

below: ‘Cavalcade’, designed by a group from Toronto: Victor Perez-Amado, John Nguyen, Anton Skorishchenko, Abubaker Bajaman + Stephen Seunwon Baik

cavalcadde art installation at Woodbine beach, cutouts of people walking

a man and his shadow and many life size cut out figures of people in bright colours

below: The construction phase

constructing an art installation on the beach in the winter, Woodbine Beach, Winter Stations, colourful life size plywood cutouts of people

man riding on a small machine that digs holes in the ground

 

Apparently, this was the 5th year for ‘Winter Stations’.  Previous years ‘Winter Stations’ blog posts:

Flotsam and Jetsam and others (2017)

Warming with everyone and their dog – almost (2018)

 

snow and ice accumulations along the shore of Lake Ontario, waves crashing into the shore

Dreams and Love

Posted: February 14, 2019 in galleries
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I’ve decided to put together two exhibits that are on at the moment in one blog post.  The first is ‘Same Dream’ by Omar Ba at the Power Plant Gallery and the second is ‘Reflections of Love’ by a group of photographers next door at one of the  Harbourfront galleries   The two exhibits don’t have a lot in common except the close proximity of the two galleries and the fact that I saw them on the same afternoon last week.

First, Omar Ba was born in 1977 in Dakar Senegal.   He studied art in Dakar and then in Geneva where he now spends part of his time.

below: The large work in the middle of the gallery was painted in place.  That is Jesus on the cross.  The center figure has the word”Horus” painted beside it.  Horus was an Egyptian God who was usually depicted with a falcon’s head on a human body.   The painting depicts “a recurrent motif of birth, death and reincarnation across different cultures today” according to the description of the exhibit on Power Plant’s website .

gallery at Power Plant Contemporary, show of works by Omar Ba, large painting of Jesus and Horus in the middle of the room, a man sitting on a wood bench looking at some of the paintings on the wall

below: ‘Naufrage’ 2014.  Dictators, despots, and authority figures can be seen in many of his paintings, often mixed in with scenes of plants and/or animals.

Naufrage, a painting by African artist Omar Ba on display at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, a black man in uniform peaking out from behind a lot of plants and their stems

below: Similar to the one above, except hear the plants are based on fairly realistic human hearts with black aortas and yellow blood vessels.

Omar Ba painting of a man behind plants with human hearts on top of them

below: Ba’s paintings are full of small details as can be seen in this close-up of part of ‘Autopsie de nos consciences 2’, 2018.   Name the flags?

detail from an Omar Ba pinting, a black man holding an automatic rifle. The butt of the gun is covered with small flags from different countries

below: More details but from a different painting.

close up of a painting by Omar Ba of a boy's face in grey dots, wearing a patterned shirt

***

‘Reflections of Love’ is a photography exhibit on at Harbourfront for the month of February that features the work of five artists.

As you enter the gallery, the words on the wall say, “In honor of Black History Month, this thoughtful photography exhibit explores the many forms of love found within our black communities through reflections of self, identity and acceptance. Power within vulnerability and healing can only come through togetherness and conversation. This is a true celebration of exemplified strength in people with deep roots and heritage.”

below: On the back wall, a series of images by Stella Fakiyesi.  Fakiyesi was born in Nigeria and raised in Toronto.

part of art gallery at Harbourfront, wood floors, black bench in the middle, some photos on the two side walls, four large photos on the back wall, a series of four photos by Stella of the same black woman in a number of poses.

part of a photo by Stella Fakiyesi of a black woman, two images superimposed on one another

below: Photo by Sean Brown

photo by Sean Brown of a black woman wearing a green turban, a number of hands are tugging at her ears.

below: Photo by Jah Grey

black and white photo by Jah Grey of a black man holding a large round mirror over his head and in front of his face

below: Two photographs by Quil Lemons

two portraits by Quil Lemons, on the left is a black woman and on the right, three black girls

below: A closer look at the one on the right shows a wonderful tangle of three girls.

a close up of portrait of three girls by Quil Lemons

 

below: Three portraits by Yannick Anton

three photos by Yannick Anton hanging on a gallery wall. All three are portraits of black people with bright yellow backgrounds, one is a father and young son, one is a young girls and one is a young child with parents.

***

Happy Valentines Day!

smiley heart on pink wall with red spray paint lines around

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