City Daily Photo Theme Day: Double

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo. For February, that theme is Double. See how others are interpreting the theme right here. 

I start with these shots taken at Lansdowne Park one morning. Two big doors at one end were open for load-in of the flea market, which is here a couple of days a month. A pair of regular doors flank the big ones.

On another side of the building, the doors as they look closed.

Churches commonly have double doors. Passing by Fourth Avenue Baptist Church in the Glebe, I took this shot of the main entrance.

A few blocks away, and a few nights later, I took this shot of the main doors for St. Matthew's Anglican Church.

Double is Two, and this fits the theme. I attended a concert showing of The Lord of The Rings The Two Towers at Lansdowne Park one night. The movie was screened, with an orchestra and choir doing the music live. A handful of orchestra members were already warming up as I took my seat.

Another two, taken at home- two shoes in the Dutch style. The key chain I bought in the last year from a Dutch store here. The porcelain version was passed down from my parents. Both have a place in my roll top desk.

I have a number of beer mugs and tumblers from Thor's Trinkets, an artisan who appears locally at the Christmas market here each year, as well as Comiccon. Among the tumblers is this one, with cinema's greatest secret agent as the motif. 

Double letters also drew my eye. Two eateries are side by side in an office tower downtown, and I stop by either of them on occasion. This double T is part of the signage for Manhattan's, which specializes in burgers and poutine.

Its neighbour is El Toro Pizza, and I'll stop for a couple of slices if I'm passing through. The double Z suits the theme.

Double is also a pair. These two sit outside the main headquarters of Library and Archives Canada.

Another set of double doors. This is one of the secondary entrances for a funeral home in Centretown.

I took this on a snowy afternoon some days ago. The main post office building downtown is at Sparks Street and Elgin. All three of the entrance points are flanked with stone lions. And because of the shape of the roads- particularly Elgin, which here veers sharply towards the northwest to meet Wellington at Parliament Hill, we have the effect of two streets in one shot.

Lastly, this one is from the archives. Back in 2019 I stopped in at the Ottawa Art Gallery, where on the main floor, a table with mirrors was set up. I took a shot with the phone I had at the time, looking thoroughly disreputable. Double the trouble, so to speak. But who's from the Mirror Universe, or is this the Matrix?

"I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson..."

Dead Man Walking

My next Doors Open destination was the Carleton County Gaol, in the downtown core. It shares the property with a former courthouse, a hotel, and the Ottawa Art Gallery, seen at upper right. This building dates to 1862, serving as a prison for 110 years until its closure. It then became a hostel, which it remains to this day.

It is imposing from the outside, and the parking lot I was standing in must have been the yard for the prison back in the day.

A door was open at the back.

Beyond, a courtyard. The tour begins at that entrance.

Looking up, that black square recessed above is the gallows.

Here we have it from inside. The floor would open up, and the condemned would fall to their death. A noose has been placed here.

There were only three hangings (officially) in the old gaol, but the inhumane conditions of the prison are well known, and the place feels oppressive, as though you are being watched. Not surprisingly, there are plenty of ghost stories associated with the building.

Death row is on the top floor, with four cells. A series of historical display panels are found here, going into specific details about the gaol, criminal justice, and the death penalty, which was ultimately abolished in Canada.

The cells can be entered.

Freedom Of Expression

 Untitled is this abstract painting by Leon Bellefleur.

Incandescence is the title of this 1968 abstract by Rita Letendre.

More abstracts can be seen here.

Red Pair is by Don Jarvis.

Paraskeva Clark, a Russian immigre to Canada, painted Homage To A Soviet Film, Baltic Deputy in 1968.

Out I went, taking a shot of the Firestone staircase from this floor.

I took a photograph of where I had come in- with a cafe down below as well.

The OAG has art for sale. These two paintings caught my attention.

One last shot, with the OAG in the background from this side, one big white cube. In the foreground, the old Carleton County Gaol, now a youth hostel. And the former courthouse that is now home to Arts Court is at left.

Canadian Creativity

 We start today with Canal in Venice, an 1896 painting by Maurice Cullen.

More works by members of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, but done with European settings.

Frood Lake At Willisville is the title of this 1963 painting by A.J. Casson.

Four paintings by members of the Group of Seven. At left are Clouds On The Prairies by L.L. Fitzgerald and Lake Simcoe by J.E.H. Macdonald. At right are Looking Towards Seymour From Lynn Valley, BC by F.H. Varley and April Morning, Labine Point, Great Bear Lake, NWT by Franz Johnston.

These paintings are from some of the contemporaries of the Group, some of whom exhibited with them from time to time- artists like Emily Carr, Yvonne McKague Housser, and George Pepper.

A.Y Jackson had a personal friendship with the Firestone family. Along with paintings seen here is one of his field art kits and a pair of his snow shoes.

Fitzroy Harbour is the big painting, and at right is Near Perth and Waters Edge, Duhamel, Quebec.

Here we see some of the more abstract works in the collection by later artists. We'll finish this series tomorrow.