Loud + Proud Pride After Party - Black Pirates Pub
Thunder Pride 2019 wrapped up today with the parade, which I will be posting very soon. Before that, Black Pirates Pub played host to the Loud and Proud Pride After Party which had an amazing drag show. I made sure I got right up against the stage and braced myself for what was to come. The bar was packed and the crowd was so energized. All the performers did an amazing job, and being that close, you could really feel the energy. It was great to see so much support from everyone there.
Davinci Cruise Night
Anyone who reads my blog posts, knows that I try and get out and photograph some of the vintage car shows throughout summer and fall. I was just out at the Kakabeka Car Show a few weeks back it was my first one of the year. Surprisingly, I had never made it out to the Davinci Nights weekly car show before. I know it has been going on each year for quite some time. Well, I finally got the chance to check it out and I’m glad I did. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot and even some I had never seen before. It was also a nice cloudy, almost gloomy day, so the lighting was perfect.
Lakehead University - Indigenous Alumni Speaker Series
The Office of Aboriginal Initiatives at Lakehead University hosted a 2019 Indigenous Alumni Speaker Series on Wednesday, June 12th in the John. N. Paterson Auditorium at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law (PACI).
Ms. Sherry Abotossaway was the Keynote Speaker. She shared her story as a recent graduate from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. It was such a fun event to capture and it was also great to see such a good turnout.
Waverley Hill Soap Box Races - George Jeffrey Foundation
I only made it out to about 10 minutes of the races this year but I did want to share a small selection of photos I managed to capture. Hopefully next year I’ll have more time to get out and cover this awesome event!
Kite Festival 2019 - Chippewa Park
Now that it’s summer, there are all kinds of events throughout the city. One of my favourites to go to has to be the Kite Festival out at Chippewa Park. It’s an annual event, where vendors show up, kites are flown and great times are had on the amusement rides at the park. Not to mention there are a host of other activities that take place during the day. The best part for me simply all the people.
Baby Shower for Gabriel
As a present to Jamie and Cory, who are family, I took photos for their baby shower for Gabriel. It took place at the Northend Recreation Centre and it ended up being the perfect location. Apparently, the centre double booked which meant Jamie had to have the shower outside, which was perfect. There was great lighting, the kids had more room to run around, and I got lots of great shots at the playground as well.
Thunder Pride 2019 – Flag Raising & Media Event
Today marked the first day of Thunder Pride 2019. To open the event there was a Flag Raising and Media Launch down at City Hall here in Thunder Bay. Mayor Bill Mauro, Chief Peter Collins and Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler helped raise the flag with members of Thunder Pride, and June 5-16 will be proclaimed as Pride Week in Thunder Bay.
2019 Lakehead University Convocation Ceremony
Lakehead University Aboriginal Cultural & Support Services hired me to photograph today’s Lakehead University Convocation Ceremony and I had a blast doing so. It’s hard not to come away with great photos in such a joyous atmosphere. I’m right at home at these types of events because they are lot like weddings. I thoroughly enjoy capturing candid moments and that is exactly what I did.
Classic Car Country Cruiser Night - Kakabeka Falls
This won’t be a long write up by any means, I simply wanted to share some photos from the first Classic Car show of the year in Kakabeka Falls. I love classic cars. One day I hope to own one. Until then, I will continue to photograph them and live vicariously through their owners. There are quite a few more shows coming up this summer and I’m very much looking forward to photographing some of them if I’m available.
K.I.H.S. Graduation Ceremony 2019 - Valhalla Inn
This was my third year photographing the Keewaytinook Internet Highschool (K.I.H.S) Graduation. It’s always such an amazing and rewarding experience. Each year I have photographed the event, the number has graduates has gone up. This years event was no exception, with a graduating class of 32. Just like last year, Valhalla Inn played host to the graduation.
Lakehead University - Material Witness - The Outpost
The Office Of Aboriginal Initiatives hosted a special production of “Material Witness this evening at the Lakehead University Outpost. I was lucky enough to photograph some of it.
Material Witness was inspired by Spiderwoman Theater's 1976 production of Women in Violence. Irreverent, sometimes surprising, the show is rooted in powerful storytelling, with a twist of humor and an uplifting musical beat. It is a multigenerational exploration of violence, healing and renewal in the lives of Indigenous women in urban and rural communities on Turtle Island.
NADF CCP Workshop 2019 - Valhalla Inn
Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) are a not-for-profit Aboriginal Financial Institution serving entrepreneurs, businesses and communities in Northern Ontario. They hosted a 3 day workshop focusing on community planning. It took place at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay. I was there to cover a couple hours in the morning on the first 2 days. While I was there during the first morning they announced their new website launch which was super exciting. There was also a keynote presentation by Dan Longboat.
Dizzy Mystics as Tool @ Crocks Thunder Bay
Living in a smaller town like Thunder Bay means that a band like Tool will never make their way here. That doesn’t mean that it’s not possible to listen to one of my favourite bands. Enter Dizzy Mystics who stopped by Crocks Thunder Bay last night to do a 3 set performance. Admittedly I had never heard of Dizzy Mystics but they were covering Tool for one of their sets so I was all in regardless. They also did some original music and a Soundgarden performance as well, which I unfortunately didn’t stay for.
BrewHa! Caskfest - The Camelot Building
For the past few years I always make it a habit to get out and shoot the BrewHa Festival down at the Marina in the summer. Well, summer came early so to speak, as BrewHa held an event here in Thunder Bay at the Camelot Building last night. A couple months ago when I saw the announcement I knew immediately that I had to attend this one and take photos. So in exchange for some tickets I took my wife Anne (who is posing for me in the cover photo) and we attended the last evening session.
ONWA She is Wise Conference - Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
ONWA held their second annual She is Wise Conference this past March at the Marriott Hotel in Downtown Toronto. It was also the second year in a row that I was invited to photograph it, and I was honoured to do so. For those of you who don’t know what this conference is all about, it’s easiest to just quote the mission statement for the event.
KAIROS Blanket Exercise - Lakehead University
Last year I photographed the second largest blanket exercise in North America at Lakehead University. This one was a much smaller one but the impact and importance was just as big. The KAIROS Blanket Exercise took place in the main lobby of Lakehead University, and it was a really good turnout.
Wake the Giant Launch - Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School
I was lucky enough to be invited to take photos of the Wake the Giant Launch at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School here in Thunder Bay. ‘Wake the Giant’ is an initiative for local business owners to offer support for indigenous youth. The goal is to have over 150 local business come on board.
31st Annual LUNSA Powwow - Lakehead University
Thunder Bay is a very diverse city, and that was on full display this past weekend as Lakehead University Native Student Association played host to the 31st Annual LUNSA Powwow. It was a 3 day event with warmups taking place on the Friday and the rest of the celebration happening on the Saturday and Sunday. There were 3 grand entries over the course of the weekend, a feast on Saturday, a wide range of drum groups from across the province and of course lots of dancing and singing.
Wolfy's 7th Annual Pond Cup
I’m very disappointed that I have missed out on the Wolfy’s Cup - Pond Cup for six years. I guess it’s better late than never. To be fair, the first time I heard about it was last year so there’s that. Regardless, having made it out to this years version, I’m just glad I finally got to photograph it. Westfort Productions was hosting this years event and they were also filming it. If you haven’t already, check out their video from last years event. They did an amazing job.
I simply volunteered my services the day before the event on Friday of this week. I saw it listed on Facebook as an upcoming event, and I knew I wasn’t doing anything on Saturday so it was a no brainer. Plus, I wanted to see for myself what it was all about. After getting a response pretty quickly, the organizer was totally up for me covering some of the day.
CMHC - First Nation Youth Forum on Housing
I recently covered a small portion of a workshop for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation where they asked First Nation Youth to come and learn about housing, housing issues and solutions. It took place on the Fort William First Nation here in Thunder Bay. It was a two day workshop with a very hands on approach and I spent about 3 hours with the youth photographing them. I was only allowed to photograph a few of the students, who were all over 18 years of age, but I was still able to show lots of what was going on.