The London Photo Walk is happy to welcome the second community sponsor for the upcoming World Wide Photo Walk.  Along side of Novacks the London Edition of the WWPW will be sponsored by Museum London.

Museum London is one of Canada’s premier art and history museums. The heart of a museum is its collection and Museum London is proud to house one of Canada’s great art collections, and one of the most significant historical artifact collections in Ontario. Our art collection has more than 5,000 regional and Canadian works and our 25,000 artifacts reflect the history of the City of London as an important urban centre in Southwestern Ontario.

With every visit, you will find a reason to be inspired.

-  Museum London

Not only does Museum London host a fantastic permanent collection, but the revolving and traveling exhibits are always a fantastic treat to regular and first time visitors.  On top of hosting typical installations and gallery type exhibits Museum London also puts on a number of different events that may appeal to a wider audience.

Their “Come for the Popcorn Stay for the Film” film festival series has Museum London showing a different movie (and accompanying short) on the last Thursday of every month.  On top of this there is also the Museum Underground which “…engages the next generation of museum supporters by demonstrating and exposing the valuable, relevant and exciting cultural opportunities available through Museum London”.

Next time you are in downtown London make sure to check out Museum London.  If you’ve been before I am sure that you will be returning very soon, and if you have never been it is worth checking out as there is usually something going on that will fill the interest of almost anyone.

If you would like to take part in the World Wide Photo Walk and support this great event please head over to our sponsor page for more details.

You read right, there is now an official World Wide Photo Walk (WWPW) clothing line. As a matter of fact there are even TWO different designs! The shirts vary in price depending on the style and quality that you prefer (as well as size) but for the most part they are about $25.00 each.  The shirts are being sold through CafePress and $5.00 from each shirt purchase will go towards the charity Scott Kelby (Adobe Photoshop Guru & World Wide Photowalk founder) has been working on creating to feed the children at the Kenya’s Springs of Hope Orphanage.

As I mentioned, $5.00 of each shirt purchase will go to the Orphanage, so order now and order quick so you have one in time for WWPW, London, Ontario Edition on July 18th.

You can order your shirts through this link: http://www.cafepress.com/townerjones/6764610

Sponsors and Potential Sponsors: This is a great way to help make a difference in our community and the charitable community. If you would like to order some shirts for prizes and donate them to the London Edition of the photowalk please let us know.

As our search continues here at London Photo Walk for sponsors to support the World Wide Photo Walk (WWPW) happening on July 18th, 2009, one long time local business has stepped forward to support what is sure to be a fantastic event.

Novacks is definitely London’s most interesting store and here at London Photo Walk we are happy to announce that they have been kind enough to sponsor the WWPW by donating some prizes to be handed out on the day of the main event.

Novack’s, in business since 1939, is committed to meeting all your recreational and travel resource needs with our unique product mix. These products are researched and tested to ensure that they meet your requirements. Our expert staff shares your travel and outdoor enthusiast passions

- Novacks.com

To find out more about this history behind Novakcs make sure to check out their website.

Personally, having been shopping at Novacks since I was a small child, it is by far the best place to go to fill any camping, traveling, hiking or outdoor needs you may hav,  Novacks was where I even headed when I was looking to get a new laptop bag.  Known for their quality and durable products and a group of staff members that know more about the products (and the world) than you ever thought was possible, Novacks should be anyone’s first destination when looking for either a common or speciality item.  One of my favourite things about Novacks (beyond the great phone booth appearing in front of the store) is the upstairs map/travel book room, it is a fantastic place to start planning any trip or excursion you may be about to take.

One thing that I cannot go without mentioning is the weekly “Walk of the Town” that Novacks has actively held.  Every Saturday morning at 10am a group of people departs from Novacks location (downtown London, Ontario) and heads out to walk around town, talk and explore.  The Walk of the Town is a great way to stay active and get involved in the community and:

Walking, as an healthy active lifestyle choice has become a major part of one’s exercise regimen. Novacks invites you to start your Saturday mornings with a walk of approximately one hour to get you warmed up for your own personal program. We walk along sidewalks and the multi-use paths along the Thames River in the Downtown area at a moderate pace, allowing conversation and taking in the sights, while long enough to get you warmed up for the day.

- Novacks.com

Next time you are in downtown London make sure to check out Novacks.  If you have never been the store before you will be amazed, and even if you have visited it before I have no doubt that you will always be able to find something new and interesting.

If you would like to take part in the World Wide Photo Walk and support this great event please head over to our sponsor page for more details.

It is official, the London Photo Walk is now part of Communities in Bloom the London, Ontario edition.

After speaking with a number of people on the Communities in Bloom organizing committee it was decided that the London Photo Walk would make a great addition to Communities in Bloom.

Communities in Bloom (CIB) is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the challenge of a national program. Celebrating its 15th edition in 2009, the Communities in Bloom program is dedicated to promoting the value of plants, trees and green spaces in urban settings, and encourages Canadian communities of all sizes to improve quality of life through community engagement and sustainable development.

- CommunitiesinBloom.ca

As part of a national and provincial competition, cities (such as London) area evaluated in such categories as tidiness, environmental awareness, community involvement, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscaped areas, floral displays, and turf & groundcovers resulting in earning annual bloom ratings, criteria award recognitions and winners.  For more details about the overall Canada wide initiative please check out CommunitiesinBloom.ca.

London’s CIB initiative is all about celebrating the Forest City through the various activities, organizations and people that believe in London and believe it to be one of the best cities in Canada which to live.  With the support of local sponsors, CIB London is all about London, Ontario and what it has to offer both it’s residents and visitors.  Sometimes we take things around us for granted, Communities in Bloom is all about recognizing these things and celebrating them.

Here at London Photo Walk we were happy to officially join this initiative as celebrating London is what this Photo Walk is all about.  Getting Londoners out exploring the city and taking pictures of it are just a couple of ways in which Londoners can be engaged in the place they call home.  The London Photo Walk looks forward to contributing to the CIB initiative and helping everyone celebrate this great community.

For more information about Communities in Bloom London please check out www.londoncib.com .  For more information about the London Photo Walk please head over to the About page.

London Photo Walk has been approached by a community group in hopes that we can help support them with a youth photography project that is to take place this summer.

Christine Li, a Youth Outreach Worker with the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre is currently working on organizing a youth photography project based upon the highly successful PhotoVoice project.

For those not familiar with the PhotoVoice project, the main mission is to bring about positive social change for marginalized communities through providing them with photographic training with which they can advocate, express themselves and generate income,¹ the GCCRC is looking to start a project with similar ambitions in the London neighbourhood of Glen Cairn.

Titled the Speaking Lens, this project hopes to encourage and help local youth identify both the strengths and weaknesses of their community in order to help celebrate the neighbourhood they call home.  Along side of this celebration of community the project also aims to teach teens about basic photography and what “makes a good shot”.²

What the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre and Christine Li are looking for are the donations of roughly 10 point and shoot digital cameras that the teens engaged in the Speaking Lens project can use in order to be fully immersed in the project.  Fancy cameras are not needed, simply basic point and shoot digital cameras (that still work) that you may no longer have a need for.

I know personally that I have an old digital camera sitting at home that does not get enough use by myself and would be better off in the hands of someone who could do meaningful work with it.  Once I can dig it up I will be sure to pass it on the the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre so that this project can be one camera closer to happening.

If you do have a camera you would like to donate I would be more than happy to meet up with you to pick it up on behalf of the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre, or perhaps you would like to come out for the next London Photo Walk and we can meet then.

To donate a camera please contact Kevin Van Lierop at:

Kevin Van Lierop
vanlierop (dot) kevin (at) gmail (dot) com

For more information about the Speaking Lens project please see the following video.³

Video is courtesy of Greg Fowler and From My Bottom Step

1. Mission Statement via PhotoVoice.org [↩]
2. Christine, if I am way off or need to add something to this description please let me know. [↩]
3. The video is dated from about a month ago but the information is still very much relevant. [↩]

By Paul Mcgrath - http://paulmcgrath.ca

Thanks to Paul McGrath of Paul McGrath Designs – http://paulmcgrath.ca we now have an Official logo and Mascot!

We would like to know what we should call him/her! So send us your ideas and check out Paul’s other Works on his web site:

http://paulmcgrath.ca