This is the 1st in a series of shots taken inside a few of the buildings made available to the public during the recent "Open Doors Toronto" weekend. This event allows the public into many building which may not normally be open to the general public.
This Jewish congregation is in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood, and was opened in 1911. It is a modest building with minimal exterior ornamentation and few grand architectural details. Shown here is a view towards the ark, or aron kodesh, housing the Torah scrolls (visible) against the east wall, ensuring that the congregation always faces towards Jerusalem, in accordance with Jewish religious law.
3-shot handheld HDR; f/5.0; ISO 400; Photomatix Pro and PS CS3.
Tags: Toronto synagogues Open Doors Toronto religious architecture history
© All Rights Reserved
Another view of the interior and the ark of the Congregtion Knesseth israel in Toronto.
This is taken from the women's gallery on the top floor of the building. It is a 3-sided balcony, providing the women of the congregation with ideal seating to observe the services being conducted below. And again, we can see the Torah scrolls in the ark. The building has circular windows on the north, west and south walls, divided into 18 segments, symbolizing the numerical value for the Hebrew word "chai", meaning "life".
3-shot handheld HDR; f/5.0; ISO 400; Photomatix Pro and PS CS3.
Tags: architecture Open Doors Toronto religious interiors Jewish
© All Rights Reserved
During our Open Doors Toronto visit to this synagogue, the President of the congregation was on hand to answer questions and offer information to the public. Here, he is seen standing before the Ark and the Torah scrolls, talking to visitors.
3-shot handheld HDR; 5/5.0; ISO 400; Photomatix Pro and PS CS3.
Tags: religious Open Doors Toronto Jewish architecture
© All Rights Reserved
In a narrow entranceway to the synagogue, here we see the prayer shawls and the Old Testament bibles used by the congregation. This is a very old building, but the floors really have been polished to that gorgeous colour. This is in a very old residential neighbourhood, and out the window we see across the street.
3-shot handheld HDR; f/5.0; ISO 400; Photomatix Pro and PS CS3
Tags: architecture bibles prayer shawls Jewish synagogue HDR
© All Rights Reserved
1266 Queen St. W. in Toronto opened its doors as Usher's Wholesale Grocers in 1969, serving Parkdale. This was the perfect area for a discount grocery store. It offered food below regular prices for the people of Parkdale. However, the market dwindled, and Ushers closed in 2005.
It is now converted into 36 shared studio spaces for artists - photographers, painters, mixed media artists, etc. Each artist's space is small, but there is a very communal atmosphere, and the artists welcomed us in the Doors Open Toronto weekend.
3 shot handheld HDR; f/4.0 ISO 400.
© All Rights Reserved