Manitoba photographer

The Weekend (not affiliated with the music industry)

Assorted images from a quiet weekend that still, somehow, had a lot to photograph.

Onlookers view a light display painted across an Exchange District building Saturday night during the first instalment of the Lights On The Exchange public art event.

Streams of light cover the building front of a heritage building in downtown Winnipeg at night.

Light streams from the front of a heritage building east of Main Street, Saturday night during the Lights On The Exchange event.

An elaborate Chinese Lion Dance weaves its way among a big crowd of people at a dim sum restaurant for Chinese New Year in Winnipeg.

A Chinese lion dance troupe weaves its way around a thick crowd of people Sunday morning during Chinese New Year celebrations at Kum Koon Gardens restaurant in Winnipeg.

A little girl flashes an exuberant smile during a Chinese Lion Dance for Year of the Rabbit celebrations

A little girl greets a Chinese Lion Dance troupe with a huge grin during Year of the Rabbit celebrations Sunday morning.

A woman walks in a shaft of bright winter sunlight under a garland of hoarfrost on the trees above

A woman crosses a shaft of bright winter sunlight beneath a garland of hoarfrost on Provencher Boulevard in St. Boniface.

A woman cheers after tackling a whipped cream beverage at a birthday party in an Exchange District pub, Saturday night.

A spire to faith and commitment

In Buddhist cultures, a ‘stupa’ is a focus of meditation, a structure that houses sacred objects. They’re a fairly common sight in Asia — in western Canada, not so much.
That’s why it was so gratifying to photograph the dedication of such a place this spring, as the local Sri Lankan Buddhist community came together to unveil the spire topping their very own stupa here in Winnipeg.

The ceremony marked many years of work by the ‘sangha’ -the community of monks, nuns and lay people - at the Mahamnevnawa Buddhist Meditation Centre who organized and built the structure themselves. Having also photographed the ceremony last fall when monks placed sacred objects inside the stupa, it was great to see how far the work has come to arrive at this point.

The weeks and months ahead will see finishing touches put on the site, but the structure itself now stands as a beacon of Buddhist faith, and a place for both the Sri Lankan community and the wider interested population to come to contemplate and be inspired.

Crowds of people surround the white and gold bell shape of the new stupa in the emerald green field of the temple grounds.
A man and a woman clasp their hands in a prayerful gesture as flower petals adorn the white ledge of the stupa structure.
The photo is divided in half - on one side, small girls and children bow in respect to the stupa structure. On the other half of the image, saffron robed monks place lights upon the ledge of the structure.
Children in their colourful coats walk past a line of Buddhist monks all in saffron robes as they carry lanterns to bless the stupa structure.
A line of 9 Buddhist monks stands in prayer to bless their temple's new stupa structure. Lay people stand behind them, also with their hands clasped in prayer.