Monday, December 11, 2017

Ottawa Vantages

As you may have noticed, I have switched out header images for something of more of a winter theme. The new one is from this past February during Winterlude, when we had ice dragon boat racing on Dow's Lake.

I have some odds and ends today. My first shot is the most recently taken of these photographs. The Supreme Court is an Art Deco wonder on the west side of Parliament Hill, a relative rarity in a city with plenty of Gothic architecture. I took the photograph on a snowy morning in November. The shot that follows was from an evening some weeks before, capturing the building by night.


This is the Bank of Canada Building from the Wellington Street side. You can see the Confederation Block of Parliament Hill reflected in the windows of the more modern portion of the building. The older building, partially submerged into the glass structure, dates back to the early 1930s. The sculpture on its terrace is a bronze from 1966 simply titled Flight, by an artist named Sorel Etrog. The building has a particularly unusual door which seems to evoke ancient Greece. 


Victoria Island in the Ottawa River features this old carbide mill, dating back to the 19th century. The bare bones of the old mill still look solid, but this being the age of lawyers, it's all fenced off to keep trespassers out. A lot was done here, as you can see from the accompanying panel.


A short walk away at the Ottawa entrance to the Portage Bridge is something new, an art installation just placed here earlier in the fall overlooking Richmond Landing. The Gather-Ring is the work of designer Manuel Baez and artist Charlynne Lafontaine. It incorporates the dream catcher and the cedar tree of the base into a single circle. In Algonquin, this is titled Tediba Mamandosewin.


I finish with something else installed this year. Outside the Chateau Laurier is a bust of Yousuf Karsh, the esteemed Canadian portrait photographer who called Ottawa home and worked out of his studio in the Chateau for the second half of his professional career.

23 comments:

  1. I like the new header - the dragon boat races were fun to follow in your original post. What is it about banks that makes them want classic symbols like that door? I like the Gather-Ring. And really like the work of Yousuf Karsh.

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  2. ...William, you show Ottawa's exciting features, I need to come and see them for myself. Your header image is fun!

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  3. I love the dream catcher, cedar tree sculpture. At first I thought it was a game.

    Janis
    GDP

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  4. Hello, great post. I like the dream catcher Gather-ring. The door is cool too. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead.

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  5. @Kay: Karsh was the best!

    @Tom: thank you!

    @Francisco: thanks!

    @Janis: it's quite a sculpture.

    @Eileen: I agree!

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  6. That Bank of Canada building is very solid looking and I love the bust of Karsh. You don't see many tributes to photographers so I think this one is great. Love the new header photo.

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  7. Stunning new header. It's appropriate to feature the Supreme Court with the recent retirement of the Chief Justice.

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  8. Art Deco is always wonderful William ☺ love the sculpture in tribute to the photographer, as Sharon said, you don't often see that! Spotted your new header right away, excellent!

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  9. Ice Dragon Boat!!! Cool! I love the old field-stone buildings

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  10. Wonderful Header photo ~ and wonderful post and photos of the the Canadian architecture ~

    Happy Week to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  11. Beautiful images, William. I like your new header, very cool.

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  12. @Sharon: he's one of our great citizens.

    @Red: yes, great timing with that one. She'll be missed.

    @Grace: I figured it was time for the winter header!

    @Cloudia: I imagine the ice dragon boats will be back again since it seemed to go well this past February.

    @Carol: thank you!

    @RedPat: we have a lot of that here.

    @Norma: I figured it was appropriate.

    @Bill: I had that one picked out for it pretty much from the start. One of my favourite shots from Winterlude this year.

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  13. I like the Supreme Court building...and like everyone else you amazing new header.

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  14. These are great! I love the supreme court building! For some reason the new header isn't loading for me from my phone....I'll try on my desktop later!

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  15. Wonderful shots again, but most of all: what a fantastic header!

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  16. I just love your new header photograph.
    Lovely to see the buildings in your photographs.

    All the best Jan

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  17. The door is beautiful, but I still hate banks ;-)

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  18. @Janey: the Court is a stunner.

    @Tanya: I know when I view my blog on my mobile, the header doesn't show up.

    @Mari: I do too.

    @Lady Fi: they are.

    @Jan: thank you!

    @Jan: thanks!

    @Klara: nobody likes banks! :)

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