TORONTO with Alex and Justine + Steve

A few days ago I talked to my friends Alex and Justine and we decided it would be fun to do a day trip to Toronto, visit the Royal Ontario Museum and take some photos while at it.

And so it was! We drove over, spent some two hours in the ROM, then got some photos of Alex and Justine on the way to the car, grabbed a coffee (of course) at Starbucks and shot some more photos!

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

I love taking pictures at sunset!

A random empty glass on a side-street near the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario

The inside of a church on Bloor street, Toronto

A panorama of a church on Bloor Street will follow too!

Then yesterday (Saturday) I spent a few hours with Steve downtown Kitchener. He came down from Toronto where he's working on his masters at U of T. We spent some time at Matter of Taste Caffe enjoying a cappuccino when dad calls my cell phone telling me to seek shelter because apparently a storm was up in Waterloo and about to hit Kitchener soon. I told him that we are indoors and hung up. No more than 10 seconds after I hung up, there was a loud sound, the sky turned black and the construction fence along King street was laying on the ground along with the bike tied to it. If we lived further south I would have thought this is a tornado, but luckily we don't =P

About an hour later we made our way back to Steve's place. On our way I shot some portraits of Steve at one of my favourite spots in Kitchener, by the old Electrohome factory on Shanley Street. Overcast lighting sure has a magic about it that makes it quite fun to edit photos.

Street Photography: anti-Scientology protest in Kitchener

As I was walking downtown today, I noticed a group of people standing near City Hall. The thing that intrigued me about them was the fact that they were wearing masks and holding posters. I came closer, took a few pictures of them and soon enough I realized what it was all about.

They were protesters, gathering as a statement against the Church of Scientology. They were very friendly and allowed me to take pictures of them, even posed for me. I asked them about the purpose of their protest and their reply was that they were speaking against the fact that the Church of Scientology was infringing human rights and putting people and families in danger, as well as maliciously convincing people to sign contracts which make them legally obliged to pay large debts to the Church of Scientology, in money or in physical labour.

An anti-Church of Scientology protester in downtown Kitchener, Ontario


What they said the church of scientology does:

The protesters explained how the church of scientology recruits people on behalf of the religious beliefs that it proclaims, then in order for the person to join the religion, they are required to sign certain documents which require them to obey the rules of this organization.

The purpose one has, as a member of the church of scientology is, in short, "purification". The way this is conducted is through "courses" which the church of scientology provides and teaches, at a cost. The cost can reach up to $128,000, roughly, and the member is obliged by law (since he/she signed the document to become a member of this church) to pay this debt, either in money or optionally in physical labour, at the construction sites of their churches (possibly other locations as well).

Some of the people endebted, I was told, who ended up paying their debt in physical labour, were children. Which is an infringement of human rights in Canada.

In the case of a church member's intention to quit their membership in the church, I have been told that the Church of Scientology legally charges them a considerable cacellation fee, which is legally enforced by the document the member signs upon enrolling into membership.

Also the church of scientology obliges its members to quit contact with friends and even family members who question or deny belief in the teachings of the church of scientology. This, they told me, has already led to many people ending up unable to speak to half their family, since that half of their family was part of this church.


Who are these people who were protesting?

I asked them whether they were members from within the Church of Scientology who were revolting against its means or whether they are all part of an organization.

I received the answer that they were not part of an organization, instead they were people of different walks of life, some of them ex-members of the church of scientology, some just people who learned these things and are appaled by them, and thus would like to speak against the practices of the church of scientology and warn others about the danger they believe this church poses.


Why do they protest?

I asked them what moved them to protest. One of the protesters then explained how they do not protest because they have anything against the church of scientology as a religion. He expressed how he believes in a God who is invisible, who came to earth, impregnated a woman with himself, then lived among us and sacrificed himself to himself. The same way that this protester has the right to believe this, he said, so do the people of the church of scientology have the right to believe whatever they find worth believing in, be it an invisible God, or aliens. So neither he nor the other protesters have anything to bring against the religious beliefs, however, the protesters hold it as imperative to share their opinion with the world, which is that the Church of Scientology is using legal means to bind people to the payment of large debts. This being a fact that they hold as dangerous and people should be warned about.


My own thoughts:

I personally love doing photo-journalism and getting in contact with people like this who have something to say and are not afraid to say it. It is often not a little thing to do, to stand up against a strong economic and perhaps somewhat political power and openly express your discontent.

Up until this day I have not much come in contact with the issue of the Church of Scientology. I did not know many details about it, its beliefs, or its practices. I find that this has been a very educational experience to me which I value a lot. Whether these things that I was told are truly fact or not, I can not guarantee since I have not had direct contact with the church of scientology, but I find that no warning is too much of a warning. One can never be too careful and should always be as informed as can be.


To the protesters:

If you read this then I would like to thank you for letting me photograph and interview you. I find that what you people do is a great thing, you are exercising your right of freedom of speech, which is a thing that I give thumbs up to!


More photographs:

Notre Dame of Guelph 2009 "take 1"

So yesterday I took my friend Daniel to Guelph. The purpose was street photography and the visiting of the famous Our Lady Immaculate church, one of the more imposing buildings in the area.

Once again I went into a church with the name Notre Dame (our lady) and I was unable to use my tripod for photos. Last time (in Montreal) I had left my tripod at the hotel, this time I had it with me but not the device that mounts on the camera, so I couldn't attach the camera to the tripod

But once again i propped the camera down on the ground, put my kit lens on, set it to wide angle and propped it up with the lens cap. Et Voila.

I also got some really good portraits of Daniel, which are a welcomed addition to my portfolio as well.

Heffman Street and Woolwich street in Guelph, Ontario.

This one reminds me of some verses from the song Moment of Surrender from the U2 album: No line on the horizon:

I was speeding off the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down till the pain will stop

At the moment of surrender
A vision of a visibility
I did not notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

street documentaryING

Last night, in Kitchener, Ontario.

As the years go by

While browsing the Internet today, I came across this picture of the Lang/Tanning building in Kitchener, Ontario. Just for the sake of comparison, beneath is one of my pictures that I shot in December 2008.


Lang building in the early 1900s.



Lang building December 2008, recently sold.

New BLOG + Looking back on 2008

Dear readers,

The moment has finally come that the new blog is out and going! Due to the fact that BLOGGER is allowing HTML/CSS editing on the blog page, I was able to implement my own taste and liking and thus this new blog interface was born. I was debating importing the old posts from the other blog http://stefansphoto.wordpress.com but I eventually decided that I should compile a "Best Of 2008" instead. This should give anybody who visits this blog a better overview over the past year and fit it all into one entry. So hang on tight for here it comes:

Best Of 2008

Engagements 2008:

Joe and Jenny's engagement, Summer 2008.
This was indeed one of the highlights of the summer of 2008. It was my second engagement shoot and I think one of the best I believe. I caught some very lovely lighting and discovered a spot that I think I will be using a lot from now on.

Joe and Jenny's engagement, Summer 2008.
Gotta love how their hearts visibly glow with the light of love.

Andrew and Kelsey's engagement photoshoot.
Andrew and Kelsey were my first engagement photo session. There are really very few things that help set the mood other than golden light.

Portraits 2008:

Alyssa's visit to Ontario, summer 2008.
This autumn was the first time my darling Alyssa came to visit Ontario. We had quite a fun time filled with many unforgettable adventures. Alyssa is indeed both an outstanding photographer and a wonderful model. Check out her photography and consider hiring her for a photo session if you live in the Vancouver area. http://alyssaschroeder.blogspot.com.

Photography 2008:

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec.
The view was fantastic and I do not believe this picture does it justice at all. Having forgotten to take the tripod from the hotel room, I had to make use of the lens cap and a plastic filter box to prop the lens up to take this picture. Boy how I love improvisation...

The St. Joseph Oratorium in Motreal, Quebec.
This was truly an intense experience. It took me quite a while to find the location of this, a lot of asking random strangers in the street, some of whom did not speak English (which was a challange for me, not being an amazing French speaker). I must say the searing for it was quite enjoyable, adding up the subway and bus rides that it included. The building is HUGE! and located upon a tall hill. It is basically a church built upon another church, while underneath it, St. Joseph, the person who started the project, is buried.
The steps you see in the middle, the brighter ones are made of wood. The cement ones on their sides are for tourists to climb up, while the wooden ones are meant for pilgrims, who, it is said climb them on their knees, as a tribute.

Marie reine du monde Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec.
A truly impressive, massive building. Just the way I like cathedrals to be for photography. The building is in the shape of a cross, with the altar at the intersection of the cross's axes, and seats along all sides of the cross.

Right outside the cathedral (photograph above) was this homeless man (I assume by his clothing). I could not help photographing him (I love photographing homeless people, they always show a lot of personality in their facial expressions). Only after I looked at the picture on the computer I noticed how the man looked like he could have just come out of the stone carving behind him. Take a look!

I shot this at the docks in Montreal by the St Lawrence River. There were many ships there, mostly yachts and one or two freight ones. When I saw this man I thought to myself "wow he looks cool!" so i pulled out the Tamron 70-300mm and quickly shot a few shots of him. They weren't great so I decided to forget about it and leave him onto my memory. But then as it was time to embarque the little tour boat that I had a ticket for, I noticed that from the lower part of the dock, in this position he looked great. So once again, quickly before he had the chance to leave, I put the eye to the lens and off I was shooting. Was very glad I caught a glimpse of this most mysterious looking character. And I went onto the ship.

Only later, when I looked at this picture again did it occur to me, "could he be a sailor? ...leaning in most a poetical fashion over the railing, waiting for the ship that shall take him back home, to his beloved sea..." Who knows. But I most certainly love being blessed with the opportunity to capture such stories full of emotion.

The LANG building, downtown Kitchener, Ontario.
This building that has not been of much use to anyone for a long time will soon be rehabilitated into offices/ apartments and an artists' corner, which my sources say will feature an art gallery and caffes. I personally am quite looking forward to that. Also according to what happened to other old buildings in the city, the facade will remain, which I also find a good thing. Looking forward to when it's done.