Iain Myrans - photoblog

The Mills of Hamilton

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-30

There is a certain beauty in Hamilton Ontario's industrial landscape.

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Grange Park

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-20

Toronto's Grange Park is one of those places that seems to keep creeping up in my life -- it's an unavoidable space in this city it would seem and every visit has something different in store. On my most recent visit I was out exploring the city for Luminao with Kim, camera in hand. Like this park, Infrared Photography can always bring with it different experiences, different ways of seeing familiar spaces. Sadly I overexposed the image slightly -- it's always so hard to tell with infrared photography because the camera's histogram and monitor are rendered almost useless. Maybe I'll try this shot again one day soon, just see what the park has in store for me on that trip.

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Humber Bridge

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-18

This is the Humber River Bridge in Toronto, a structure that is somewhat of a landmark in Toronto both because of its styling but also because it is a pedestrian and cycling bridge. I shot this on the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 that I won in a recent Olympus Canada photo contest (for this photo: http://sparklite.shutterchance.com/photoblog/218247.htm). I think this is the only photo i've taken and posted from a point and shoot camera on the blog. As a side note the Mayor of Toronto once told me that this place, the trail and the bridge over the Humber were among his top picks for the most beautiful places in Toronto. ~iain.

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The new, the old. and the art

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-11

I think I like this one a bit more than yesterday's post. Again, this is an art installation which is part of the Luminato arts festival underway in Toronto. I love how this historic building enters into the atrium of the Brookfield Place building and I couldn't resist trying to capture it in this shot.

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Atrium Artwork

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-10

While we're on the topic of giant red balls, here's a photo from BCE (now Brookfield) Place. This is an art installation which is part of the Luminato arts festival underway in Toronto right now.

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The Big Red Ball

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-09

This ball is visiting downtown Toronto after a substantial tour around the world as part of Toronto's Luminato festival. Check out the details on the artist at http://www.luminato.com/2009/events/38

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Toronto's Brand New Opera House: A Rant

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-02

This isn't an artistic photo. Excuse me while I rant for a moment... Queen Street is one of Toronto's most important roads, possibly more so within the city proper than the world-famous Yonge Street. Queen street runs east - west through Toronto's vibrant downtown, major arts and culture districts, some of the most historic buildings in the city, and Toronto's civic heart (City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square). Queen Street is also one of the most significant retailling streets and is well connected by subways. What a great place to build a monument to the performing arts in Toronto -- Toronto's new Opera House. Take a look at this map: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=43.650985&lon=-79.385566&z=18.8&r=16&src=msa Accross from the Opera house (immediatley behind me when I took this photo) is Osgoode Hall, home to this day of the Upper Canada Law Society, one of Canada's oldest institutions which has some of the most beautiful grounds and buildings in the city. Next to Osgoode Hall is Toronto City Hall built by Viljo Revell, the most impressive modernist pieces of architecture built in Canada with a popular public square -- a major attraction with tourists and Torontonians alike. Finally, the opera house is built adjacent to one of the busiest subway stations in Toronto. It occurs to me that the architect of Toronto's new opera house, Jack Diamond (who I must say did a fantastic job on the interior of the space), seemed to forget, or simply not realize, that this building has two facades (at least). The critical Queen Street facade, and the University Avenue facade are each of equal importance. Rather than working with, leveraging, and turning the challenge of having two facades into an opportunity on this former parking lot site, Mr. Diamond has developed an inward-looking building that fails to interface with the street in any way what so ever, save a window for displaying Land Rovers and another showing an interior fire-exit corridor. From this view I would rather have the parking lot back. (The second floor does provide visitors to the Opera House a great view of Osgoode Hall, too bad Osgoode hall looks at the above view in return!). The University Avenue side is nice, nothing flashy, a very modest building that again highlights its interior spaces as shown through its glass front. I have no specific issue with that side of the building. Some have argued that it is impossible to build a nice theatre with more than one facade, or that it is far too expensive. I have to remind them that we have a great example of a theatre with multiple facades right here in our very own city. The Isabel Bader Theatre, a gift of Alfered Bader to the University of Toronto, was designed by architect Peter Smith. He had to build a structure that faced outward to the street on one side while also designing a second facade to engage the interior of the campus. Moreover he was told that it had to be built on a lot the size of a tenis court (it was a tenis court) and that it had to sit at least 500 people -- a very challenging venture! Every one of these criteria were met. I don't blame Jack Diamond entirely. The Canadian Opera Company, unlike the University of Toronto, failed to set some strict design standards for their new building -- or at least it would seem that way. I also wonder where the City of Toronto was when this was built, and how it got approved like this -- they deserve some blame also. We have officially destroyed a potentially great opportunity to build something truely grand, tuely important, on this intersection for decades to come. I do hope that one day this facade is redesigned, and if that is impossible that the entire building be demolished and something else be built that reflects the importance of this intersection -- a building that actually interacts with the streets around it. For those reading this in Toronto, I'm not a fan of the ROM Crystal either, but that is a matter of personal aesthetic preference -- I have a great deal of respect for how that building was designed to engage the street, and interact with people. I may not like the design but I have a great deal of respect for the ROM's architect, Daniel Libeskind, for at least taking the street into consideration. A final note, I am an urbanist and am a trained city planner and geographer. Perhaps an architect reading this would have a different view. I am curious to know. Please comment! In fact everyone please comment and let me know what you think! *this blog, and all of my photos and comments represent at all times my personal opinion and do not reflect the views of any organisations or firms that I am affliated with.

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Sunset at the Islands

Iain Myrans — 2009-06-01

The view at Sunset at the Toronto Islands. I have a photo from about 7 years ago from a similar spot that I just love as well. I think this is one of the nicest places in Toronto to take a photo at sunset.

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Closing Time at Ballzack's

Iain Myrans — 2009-05-29

It was getting late and dark when closing time came upon the Ballzack's Coffee Shop in Toronto's Distillery District. I zipped in the partially open door to snap this photo of the interior in the evening glow of the incandecent bulbs. Having done so in a bit of a rush, and without a tripod in the dim light the photo came out slightly soft but I still loved the look it offered.

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The Belleview

Iain Myrans — 2009-05-28

Another photo in my May long weekend photo series of Pointe au Baril. In the last photo you could see this building, the old Belleview Hotel, in the distance. I just love the way the white wash and the red rooftops and blue sky and water all contrast against eachother. Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

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Buildings of Another Era: the Pointe and the Belleview

Iain Myrans — 2009-05-27

This is a photo of the Pointe au Baril light house on Georgian Bay. This is a very special place to me with many a fond memory. In the summer you can climb the tower of the lighthouse tower and look out over the lake, it's a great view :) In the distance Belleview Hotel, one of the many hotels built at the end of the 1800s now sits largely abandoned, air travel having put all of the once famous Great Lake hotels out of business by the 1970s. Two posts back I put up an image taken from the oposite side of the building and many of you commented on the sky. I had a circular polarizer attached to the camera in both that shot and this one, and shot in RAW format then did a direct conversion with Olympus Software. Lastly I gave the curves a mild tweak and that's that.

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Cenotaph

Iain Myrans — 2009-05-25

I shot this in Vancouver a number of weeks back now, before the trees went green. It's the last of my Vancouver photos so I thought I'd post it just for the heck of it :) Iain.

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