Razem Frazem! (Farewell To Old Film)

I could have also titled this post Doctor Strangefilm: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Red Glow. 

I still had a disposable camera lying about with shots I took from the Civic Holiday weekend in August, and had it developed this week. I hadn't had a camera on hand on Canada Day, so I ended up buying a double pack of one time use cameras. Some of the shots came out nicely, and I'll go through them in the next few days (some nice warm weather shots for those of you in the cold). Others? Well, let's just say they looked really weird....

I wasn't sure about posting this one. Though realistically, the problems with the image are merely at the sides. Namely that black edge on the left and the hint of a red glow on the right. The rest of the shot is fine. These two soldiers were standing guard at the War Memorial that weekend. The Memorial has had some additions on it since then, unveiled on Remembrance Day: below the dates of the First World War is a new inscription in metal, in both English and French: in service of Canada. Dates for the Afghan War and the South African War have also been added elsewhere on the Memorial's stone.

Sufficed to say, lesson learned: always have a proper camera close at hand.

Paper, Politics, Money, And The River

Since I've been spending the last two days speaking about Yousuf Karsh, his brother Malak Karsh was mentioned. Malak became a landscape photographer, travelling across Canada and in other places, photographing the land and the people in astonishing detail in both black and white as well as in colour. Like his brother, he worked late into life, and his skill with the camera was just as good. Wisely in choosing landscape photography, he forged his own path, professionally going by his first name. Between the two of them, they were the best photographers the country has produced.

Malak took this photograph, entitled Paper & Politics, in 1963, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, looking out at Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier. The tugboats were involved in dealing with the breakup of a log boom upstream. This was back in the day when fleets of timber were still floated down the river.

Paper & Politics, by Malak, 1963

The two brothers had their work together on the Canadian one dollar bill for many years until it was replaced by the dollar coin in the Eighties. Many Canadians will remember it. One of Yousuf's portraits of the Queen was on the one side. Malak's image above was adapted and engraved onto the other, as you see below.

This is the view today from the same spot; I took it this past May during the Tulip Festival. A bed of tulips has been planted here where Malak took that shot of the Hill and has been named in his honour. It is a fitting tribute to a man who was instrumental in the creation of the festival, and part of the lifeblood of the city and the country.

A reminder to City Daily Photo bloggers: the theme for December 1st is Workers.

The Great Man And That Smile

Yesterday's post had me look up a few things about that particular photo shoot on Parliament Hill. Yousuf Karsh remarked years later that after taking Churchill's cigar and walking back to his camera, "he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me." 

Still, the Prime Minister let him take another shot, and this one had him smiling. Churchill then told the young photographer, "You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed." 

Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh, 1941

Other Karsh portraits were mentioned yesterday. Three others struck my interest, and I add them on here. He was the best of the best.

Elizabeth II by Yousuf Karsh, 1951

Martin Luther King Jr. by Yousuf Karsh, 1962

John F. Kennedy by Yousuf Karsh, 1960

The Great Man And His Scowl

"I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." ~ Winston Churchill

I have shown this portrait of the great man before, but it's welcome to revisit such places and photograph again. Yousuf Karsh, whose photo studios were here in the Chateau Laurier for many years, has several portraits hanging in the lounge, including his iconic portrait of Winston Churchill. It was taken on Parliament Hill in late December 1941 during a stay in Ottawa after Churchill gave a speech in our House of Commons. The story goes that Karsh took the Prime Minister's cigar away to get the shot he wanted. Churchill didn't much care for that, hence the scowl, and yet it's the defining portrait of the man, showing his absolute determination.

A few days back the Ottawa Citizen mentioned Churchill in another way. It seems that his ghost has been seen in Laurier House, the home of Prime Ministers Laurier and Mackenzie King, where he stayed as a guest. Perhaps he's still looking for that cigar?

Hound Of The Baskervilles

This post from Wolverhampton Daily Photo in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, reminded me of my father. He spent most of his working life as a letter carrier, up to retirement. It was good exercise, and he liked the work. Dad is not the sort of person who lies (he never even learned the social value of a white lie), but he is prone to exaggeration. So growing up we were used to hearing stories of near miss encounters with vicious, bloodthirsty dogs; I would ask in reply if they were ten feet long, six feet high, breathing fire, barking so loud they could be heard kilometres away. He would say "I nearly lost my leg today to a killer beast", and one of us would ask if the dog had smashed through the brick wall of the house just to get to him. I don't think he's ever read Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound Of The Baskervilles, but the way he described such dogs he would encounter on his route would remind one of the canine adversary confronting Sherlock Holmes.

For a nice counterbalance to Dad's stories of canine horror most foul, I prefer my cousin's dog Buddy. We wouldn't see him tearing around an English moor terrorizing a Baskerville to death, would we?

Though it's always the nice, sweet, cute ones you have to watch. 

Whale Of A Tale

I took these shots around this time of year last year, and found a spare pair of unpublished shots among my archives. A life sized set of narwhals and beluga whale sculptures hang here in the World Exchange Plaza downtown.

The Bridge

My post from the other day on the sunset over the Rideau Canal got me thinking. I've taken many shots either from on this bridge, or of the bridge and its surroundings. The Bank Street Bridge crosses the Canal, emerging from the Glebe on the north side and going into Old Ottawa South on the south side. This evening shot of the bridge is from my archives. Water in the Canal has been lowered for the season.

Many of you know Stefan from Photos from Haninge. Stefan regularly features images of a specific tree in his area, this being his most recent post. Given that I've already got quite a wealth of pics of or from this bridge, I've decided to make this location a recurring theme. The bridge offers up plenty of photo ops in any season.

Inclusivity

After yesterday's post, I looked for the other sculpture David Fels carved out of the Brighton Oak among my shots. This is an unpublished look at the carving; the name of the sculpture is Inclusivity. It stood for several months in the Ottawa Convention Centre in the leadup to a summit on accessibility for the disabled that was held here earlier in the year. It was to be set in a permanent location at Carleton University, where he carved this work and yesterday's sculpture; I somehow suspect that if it's already on campus, it's in one of the buildings I never go into. 

Sculpted

It's been awhile since I've shown you this sculpture at Carleton University. Sailing Through Time is carved from oak by David Fels, and occupies a rather nice spot on campus. This is another angle on the work.

Fans of Shakespeare might want to check my writer's blog today- there's a film review over there for one of the Bard's comedies.

Sunset

The Rideau Canal at twilight makes for good photo opportunities. I've taken photographs here on the Bank Street Bridge on numerous occasions.