people | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘people’

dyke march – the befores

Posted: June 29, 2014 in events, people
Tags: #dmto, #wemarch, bikes, crochet, downtown, dyke march, dykes, flags, gay, LGBT, parade, people, pink, pride, queer, rainbow, Toronto, umbrella

Getting ready, or waiting, for the Dyke March. Saturday 28th June, from Allan Gardens west to Yonge St then north to Charles St. It was a very warm and sunny day.

two lone photographers stand in a street that has no traffic. Crowds are on the sidewalks on either side. They are sitting, waiting for a parade to come past

Carlton street awaits the start of the march.

Reflection in the round side view mirror of an old school bus that has been painted pink by CUPE.

reflecting on the CUPE bus, painted in pink and flying a pink flag.

A man is wearing a rainbow flag like a cape, and he has one wrapped around his head like a headband. He is selling large and small sized rainbow flags. He is topless otherwise

I bought a flag.
Him: Oh, this is going to be put online?
Me: If it works.

Two guys are sitting on the sidewalk. One has dyed his hair yellow and he's carrying a rainbow flag. The other is resting his chin on his hands, and his elbows on his knees. He has his rainbow flag draped over his head and he looks very bored.

It was a hot day and the parade was late getting started…….

A multicoloured bracelet on a wrist. The bracelet says, Oy Vey I'm Gay.

I spoke briefly to a woman who was wearing this bracelet. One of the women she was with was wearing a sticker that said, “Eat Me, I’m Kosher” but I didn’t take a picture of it.

detail of a crocheted banner that was made for the duke march

something about gender, details of a crocheted banner that was made to be carried in the march

A good looking, very fit, man wearing just a pair of pink shorts and a pair of sandals is walking down the street.

pretty in pink

A lacy umbrella decorated with crocheted 3D breasts in different colours, probably life sized.

custom crocheted umbrella to keep the sun off…. sitting on the grass before the parade

A black helmet has two lines of pink fringe glued on the top it that make it look like a Mohawk hair cut. The helmet is sitting on the seat of a black motorcycle.

waiting to ride

down on the shadowy concrete

Posted: June 6, 2014 in locations, people
Tags: abstract, afternoon, city hall, concrete, diagonal, fountain, groups, lines, nathan phillips square, people, photos, shadows, sun, Toronto, walking, water

From a vantage point over Nathan Phillips Square, we looked down on the people as they passed by. It was late in the afternoon so the shadows were long. Although we were looking for interesting characters, we were also creating compositions with people, concrete lines, and shadows as elements.

Three photographs are shooting from behind a low concrete wall. One has his camera aimed downwards towards the people walking below. The others have their cameras aimed farther out.

hunting shadows

A group of people walking across Nathan Phillips square. They are walking on crete and the afternoon shadows are long.

caught some!

A group of three people walking across Nathan Phillips square. They are walking on crete and the afternoon shadows are long.

on the diagonal

Most of the picture is of shadows on the concrete below. There are partial shadows of the arches over the fountain at nathan phillips square. There are also 4 people (or parts of the people) and the long shadows that they cast.

walking over the shadow arches

A group of young people walking across Nathan Phillips square. They are walking on concrete. Five guys and two girls. Both girls are in short black dresses with black sandals.

with matching little black dresses

A man is sitting at a table outside, on Nathan Phillips Square, late afternoon, with long shadows making patterns on the concrete

Some shadows kept still so they were easier to capture.

photo of the railing that is made of many vertical white bars. The railing is not straight. There are many shadows in the picture, and many patterns, linear and diagonal, made by the white bars and the shadows.

a multitude of lines and their linear shadows

Not all involved shadows. Sometimes, just people in the shadow.

A group of people are either sitting on a bench, or standing beside it, in Nathan Phillips Square, beside the fountain pool

Resting by the fountain.

Two women are walking on the concrete squares

walking between the lines

Pedestrian Sunday

Posted: May 26, 2014 in events, people
Tags: bikes, chalk, chalk chick, colours, eating, enjoy, eye, food, graffiti, Kensington, patio, pedestrians, people, photos, pictures, sidewalk, sights, stores, street art, summer, Sunday, sunny, Toronto, umbrellas, walking

The first Pedestrian Sunday of 2014, Kensington Market, 25th May.

What follows is a collection of sights from that afternoon.

A group of young people are walking down the street, away from the camera. Some are walking their bikes and some of the men are topless.

It was a warm day, the warmest day of the year so far. Time to shed the remains of winter and enjoy the sun and the city.

art and music…..

A young woman is sitting on the sidewalk. She is creating a picture of one of the characters from the TV show Futurama.

‘chalk chick’ – see more of her work at chalkchick.com

A man sitting on a stool on the sidewalk, playing a musical instrument

I am not sure what his name is or what kind of instrument he plays. If anyone knows, please give me a shout!

Two men on the sidewalk outside Sancis store. One man is standing and the other is sitting.

guitar players

food and drink…..

Three women are lined up waiting to be served at a street vendor who is selling food.

one of the many street vendors selling food and drink – BBQ chicken, burgers, fries, sandwiches and coconut sorbet included

The front of Wandas Pie in the Sky restaurant. People are sitting at tables and chairs set up outside the restaurant.

enjoying Wanda’s patio

A number of people are having lunch on a patio.

lunch on the patio!

A group of young people are sitting onthe curb eating food out of stryofoam containers

street food

people watching ……

Some people sitting on steps, three women standing in front of a large graffiti face that is wearing large star shaped sun glasses.

In front of big red starry sunglasses.

giant scrabble!

A couple with a small dog on a leash are standing by one of the barricades used to keep cars off the street

People with animals ….

A woman has a large fake red nose and large white frames sunglasses. She is carrying a green umbrella with a froggie face on it

keeping cool under the froggie

A woman is sitting at a table, under a patio umbrella. Behind her is a large graffiti piece of a young woman's face

two women, one larger than life

A woman is looking at her phone as she waits behind a table where she is selling denim shorts (on the sidewalk). In the background a man is buying something at another vendor's table.

‘This Way’ to browsing, buying and selling.

A pile of large wood blocks are in the middle of the street and a family is building small towers with them - a small girl and boy and their parents.

playing with blocks

Two women, each with an umbrella open above their heads are standing in the street.

Some people bared their skin to bask in the sun while others wanted more protection

under the blade

….. and the sights of Kensington

Detail of messages attached to a telephone pole. They are written on strips of yellow and blue heavy paper. In the background is a painting of a large eye, part of the sign above the door of Orbital Arts on Augusta Ave.

A watchful eye from Orbital Arts looks over Augusta Ave.

At an intersection, lots of people are walking on the street. Across the intersection is a three story burgundy colored brick building with a shop, and awning, on the ground floor. There are murals of faces on the upper level of the outside wall along with the words 'Welcome to Kensington, Romeos'

crowded streets mid-afternoon outside Romeo’s

a man stands in the doorway of a shop that has towels in the window and a lot of things for sale on a table outside the shop

Captain America and the Hulk lurk outside a store.

street scene of the intersection of Kensington and Dundas West. There are people walking on the sidewalk past a boarded up shop.

the corner of Kensington and Dundas West

A man is sitting on a fence reading a book. There are books on the ground in front of him that are for sale. There are also some shirts on hangers that are for sale.

a quiet corner to read on

little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

a little alley

Posted: May 22, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, chainlink fence, coffee, couple, doorway, face, Kensington, lane, mailbox, male nude, man, mosaic, people, stickers, tags, tiles, Toronto, woman

A little dead end alley in Kensington and the graffiti I found there.

Looking through a chain link fence towards a short laneway. There is graffiti on the walls of the buildings that back onto the alley

A chain link fence at the end of the alley.

Street art piece of a semi clad woman and a male nude, reaching for each other. They are larger than life, and higher up on a wall.

I love the way that the faces are incomplete compared to rest of the anatomy.

A graffiti piece of a black hooded figure. Someone has tagged over part of it in large white letters. The next person has put an orange line through the white tags and then added the words Fuck You learn some respect

The seemingly endless battle between graffiti artists and those who wantonly tag over their work.

A collection of small tiles that have been painted over by a larger piece of street art

squares pieced together

Multicoloured graffiti that covers a door as well as the wall.

hidden doorway

black outline picture of a tea cup and saucer, with steam rising from it, on top of green and purple graffiti

steaming

Doorway covered with stickers and scribbles

chaos with stickers and scribbles

Graffiti of a pinkish face with bared teeth. CHainlink fence on the left of the photo.

grimacing skull by the fence

ford love-in at City Hall

Posted: November 13, 2013 in events
Tags: anti-Ford, bobble heads, cameras, city hall, crowd, mayor, nathan phillips square, people, photographers, photos, politics, protest, resign, Rob Ford, RoFo, signs, step down, Toronto, wall

Anti Rob Ford protest

A cold but clear November afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square.

people, signs, cameras, writing, chanting, speeches, media.

Protesters at a rally, from behind. Two people are holding signs. One sign says Step Down and the the other sign says Or Fall Over

Step down or fall over.

A man is writing with chalk on a grey concrete wall.

The city’s budget has gone up! Every year Rob has been in office.

Nathan Phillips Square from the upper walkway, looking down at the crowd that has gathered for the protest

Nathan Phillips Square about 1:00 p.m.

A couple is holding an orange sign that says Councillors fix this mess now. P.S. I vote.

There was a good mix of people there, young and old.

View of the crowd from part way up the steps just before they moved towards the front door of City Hall.

A woman is holding a sign that says Sh*!show RoFo has got to GO. In the background there is a man who has a sign with a picture of the man from the Monopoly game showing that his pockets are empty.

Many creative signs. RoFo, the man from Monopoly, gravy train…..

It’s not about the drugs, it’s about the lies.

Two people are writing words in chalk on a concrete wall. A woman is standing on a garbage bin so that she can reach higher up on the wall.

Writing on the wall, about 12:40. I am not sure when the writing started, but when I first got to Nathan Phillips Square there wasn’t too much on the wall yet.

A man is walking past holding up a sign that says Gravy Train? What about Leadership? In the background people are writing on the wall.

Of chalk and signs

A man is writing words on the concrete wall beside the ramp at Nathan Phillips Square.

A little bit later, a few more words on the wall as well as on the ground. Sashay away! Fraud Nation. No to Drugs. Harper + Ford = Corruption. Help yourself & help Toronto, Step Down.

A man is writing in orange and blue chalk. Old City Hall is in the background.

You smoked your own pipe. More writing on the upper wall.

A woman is writing Get Help in purple and yellow chalk, on the ground

I assume that it became “Get Help”

A man is writing on the concrete ground as part of the crowd watches him.

Etobicoke, Ford Co. most wanted.

another view of the crowd

Two woman are holding bright orange signs.

…finally!

A man and a woman are holding a very large sign with a picture of Rob Ford's face on it.

Resting on the Archer

Two people are writing on the wall, a woman has stopped to watch them and a man is taking their picture.

Protesters, spectators and photographers. There were a lot of photographers! A lot of media, print, radio and television, were there too. Newstalk 1010 (where the Ford brothers had their radio show) had at least one person walking around with a microphone.

A man holds a megaphone in one hand and a sign that says Say No To Corruption in the other hand.

Leading the chants

A picture of the cafe that is beside Nathan Phillips Square. There are people sitting inside who are looking at the protest. The protest can also be seen reflected in the glass.

Looking at the ones inside while the ones outside are reflected back

A man with a sign with lots of words on it is talking to a woman wearing a grey scarf.

wanted, A new Mayor! asap

A woman is writing Pathetic Leave Toronto in coloured chalk on the concrete ground in the middle of the square.

Writing in the square.

A man in a bright orange hat and holding a protest sign, is taking a photo with his phone.

I got him and he got me (I probably got the better photo!)

#savetoronto #topoli #robford

With thanks to the Starbucks at Queen and Victoria where I was able to park myself and my laptop while I put this blog together. Wifi and an electrical outlet for the price of a tall coffee, can’t beat it.

zombie for a day

Posted: October 27, 2013 in events
Tags: blood, bloody faces, chains, gore, men, people, Pokemon, rat, Rob Ford, scary, stitches, teeth, wild, women, zombie walk, zombies

Toronto Zombie Walk, Nathan Phillips Square,

26 October, 2013

The rain stopped just before the Zombie walk started but there was a very chilly wind blowing. The weather didn’t stop the zombies! It didn’t stop the fun either.

close up of a girl's face. She has a fake mouth tied together with red embroidery thread

I met a zombie, and it was fun.

a mother and daughter dressed up as zombies. Frizzy hair, grey skin and lots of fake blood dripping from their mouths.

keeping it in the family – like mother, like daughter

A woman with make up on her face to make her look like a zombie.

zombie repose, by the archer

A man with white makeup on his face, a chain around his neck and a plastic rat on his shoulder.

A rat’s best friend.

two girls with big bows around their necks, fake teeth and lots of blood

cute but bloodied

Two men. The one on the right is wearing a hoodie that says smoke meth and hail satan.

They humoured me.

A zombie holding a large yellow Pokemon zombie. He is screaming at a photographer

even Pokemon was not spared.

two woman dressed up like zombies. The woman in the foreground has blood dripping off her chin and down her neck. The woman in the background has a large ugly facial wound

dripping blood, and the eyes…….great zombie eyes!

a man made up to look like he has a pencil shoved into his eye

an eye for an eye, oh wait, a pencil for an eye

a girl with red frizzy hair who has white makeup on her face and a bloody mouth

bulletproof

A man with very long hair, a moustache and a beard with blood running down his face. A fake leg is attached to his shoulder. and he has chains around his neck

screaming, blood curdling screams……

Three people - two grey zombies and a young Asian woman who is pretending to be scared of the zombies

one of the many great interactions between the zombies and their audience

Two girls wearing woolly hats and very ugly fake teeth. THey have lots of blood on their chinslots of b

so much for the orthodontics

three zombies dressed in white coveralls, sitting by The Archer sculpture in Nathan Phillips Square

even zombies need a break

Mayor Rob Ford poses for a photo op with a zombie

Rob Ford meets zombie

paper people

Posted: October 25, 2013 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, big ears, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bill Murray, black and white, broom, deadboy, drawings, everything made him happy, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, lane, Leonard Cohen, paper, people, photos, Rob Ford, stencils, street art, Toronto, woman

paper people of Graffiti Alley

a paper graffiti of Bill Gates, Bill Murray and Bill Clinton on a graffiti covered door

Three Bills
This is now a recurring theme in stencil/paper graffiti. Originally, the Bills were used in response to ‘post no bills’ signs on fences surrounding construction sites.
The Bills here, from left to right, are Bill Gates, Bill Murray and Bill Clinton

paper graffiti of ROb Ford, from the shoulders up, giving the finger.

In the fall of 2011, many of these Rob Ford stencils appeared in Graffiti Alley, amongst other places. They were the work of Toronto street artist, Deadboy. This might be the only one that remains in this alley.

a poster with a black and white line drawing of a man's head. He has a beard. Beside him are words.

Leonard Cohen: “only one thing made him happy and now that it was gone everything made him happy”

a black and white paper poster/stencil of a woman throwing her arms in the air and walking away. It is on a grey door in a lane. There is a broom beside the door.

“I don’t do floors”
“Clean it up yourself”

a brown and black set of posters/stencils of three heads. Two are the same - they look like heads with big ears and they are wearing very big sunglasses. The third looks like a woman in a helmet like the kind an astronaut might wear.

big ears and the astronaut

I have not included all the stencils in Graffiti Alley as some have appeared in prior posts. See https://mcfcrandall.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/walking-graffiti-alley-again/

a stencil of large headed, no armed, creature.

alien in the alley

With thanks to:

Georgette for her help with the three Bills

and Sally who recognized Leonard Cohen.

Nuit Blanche 2013

Posted: October 9, 2013 in events
Tags: 401 Richmond St., ai weiwei, bikes, bones, city hall, CN Tower, crowds, George Walker, graffiti, honey, installations, leg, lights, nathan phillips square, nuit blanche, painting, people, phones, photography, pics, posters, prints, spheres, street art, Toronto

Saturday, 5th October

downtown Toronto

This is only a small selection of the art installations and exhibitions that were on display that night.

part of an art installation where there are small bones hanging from the ceiling, A man's leg is in the background

Bones, leg bones? Part of the ‘Indicator’ installation at Gareth Bate Art Projects, 401 Richmond St.
“Birds, bats, bees. Indicator species tell us when ecosystems are in peril. Bones, sugar, dripping honey – a meditation on catastrophe and connection.” The bones hung from the ceiling and the honey dripped down the walls.
Artists: Karen Abel, Jessica Marion Barr, Gareth Bate

A man looking at a series of small black & white prints in an art gallery

A timeline of the life of Conrad Black in black & white woodcut prints as shown at a gallery at 401 Richmond Street. Artist, George Walker

silhouettes of some people, on glowing pink and blue spheres

silhouettes
at Much Music, Queen Street West

The CN tower, with pink and blue lights, is in the background. In the foreground are people taking pictures with their phones. In the middle ground are a number of pink and blue lit spheres

phones lifted skyward

A woman is taking a picture of an art installation that is flat on a table. Twelve black & white framed prints are on the wall behind her.

Black & white art made using electric currents & little wires that spun in circles.
401 Richmond Street

An art installation featuring pictures of bicylces. Multicoloured.

bkies, bikes, bikes

A man is spray painting a piece of street art using aerosol cans of paint

spraying in the spotlight
On Dundas West near Beverley Street

Crowds, at night. Light is provided by fluorescent lights that spell out a short poem.

‘The rose is without why’ by Boris Achour.
This is a short poem written by Johannes Scheffler aka Angelus Silesius, in the 17th century. The words are written with fluorescent lights and is more than 300 feet long. It was bright enough to light up the square.

crowds at Nathan Phillips Square on the night of Nuit Blanche. Some people are standing on the upper level watching the crowds below.

upper level, Nathan Phillips Square

Nathan Phillips Square

Nathan Phillips Square
On the left – ‘Forever Bicycles’ sculpture by Ai Weiwei lit in pink and purple. There are 3144 bicycles.
On the right – ‘Crash Cars’ by Alain Declercq consists of two driverless cars.

posing
These metallic figures were not part of Nuit Blanche. They are part of a sculpture close to the Court House on University Ave., just north of Queen St. West.

Nathan Phillips Square on a sunny long week-end

Posted: August 7, 2013 in events, locations
Tags: archer, August, dancing, irie, irie festival, live music, music, Nathan Phillips, people, performance, reggae, Samba Squad, summer, sunshine, Toronto, tourists

This year the long August week-end (Aug 3, 4 and 5) was warm and sunny. Like most summer week-ends in Toronto, there was lots going on. On both Sunday and Monday afternoon I dropped by the IRIE festival at Nathan Phillips Square.

people watching a performance at Nathan Phillips Square on a sunny afternoon

There was a small but appreciative crowd at Nathan Phillips Square on Sunday afternoon for the IRIE festival.

Samba Squad, a group of musicians, performs on stage.

Samba Squad performing on Sunday afternoon.

4 men dancing on a stage. they are wearing green pants and white sleeveless T-shirts.

They were called the TD dancers and they were one of the opening acts on Monday afternoon.

A man and a woman dancing. The woman has long hair that is bouncing around as she moves.

Their performance was twelve minutes of non-stop, high energy movement.

Seeking shade and a place to rest.

Two Asian male photographers and their cameras with very long lenses taking pictures of a performance on the stage at Nathan Phillips Square.

There were not a lot of cameras clicking away during the performances that I saw. One exception were the four men with their long lenses that stopped by for a few minutes, took some photos, and left. I thought of African safaris as I watched them.

A girls wearing a light blue jacket is standing beside the pool at Nathan Phillips Square while her mother takes her picture. The mother is wearing light blue pants and is holding a light blue umbrella.

Photo op in light blue.

Nathan Phillips Square from the south, showing one of the arches over the fountain. Some vendors are there as well as some tourists and other people enjoying the sunny afternoon.

There were also a few vendors selling food & drink, clothing, and jewelry. Mostly it was a pleasant way to spend some time on a sunny summer afternoon.

First Toronto Japanese Summer Festival

Posted: July 28, 2013 in events
Tags: crowds, drawing, Dundas Square, festival, geisha, Japanese, kids, kimono, parasol, people, Pokemon, red parasol, summer, sunglasses, T-shirts, Toronto

Dundas Square, Sunday July 28

I happened upon this festival this afternoon. It was crowded but everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Many people were out at Dundas Square this afternoon enjoying the perfect summer afternoon.

There were displays and activities. You could make buttons, practice calligraphy or try your hand origami.

two girls dressed in kimonos trying to grab a small inflated balloon that is floating in water.

Catch a bobbing balloon with a tiny hook!

Display of T-shirts for sale. They have Japanese writing on them. One is the character for energy and the other is the character for "be yourself'

T-shirts were some of the things that were available for sale.

A man wearing a Pokemon mask on the side of his head. Also in the photo is a small boy wearing a fedora but falling asleep on his father's shoulder

There were also masks for sale.

A woman wearing a kimono made of fabric that is covered with red maple leaves.

Many woman wearing kimonos in all colours and variety of fabrics. Some men were wearing the male equivalent (sorry, I have forgotten the name). There was a kimono fashion show as well.

as I walk Toronto

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