Capturing life as it is

An article in Vegan magazine

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I was extremely happy to have the opportunity to write about my experiences at the Toronto Vegetarian (actually vegan) Bank, where I volunteered for a year.

I got to do a short interview with Matthew Noble, who is running the food bank. It was great to get to know him better and find out that, besides being a wonderful human being who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of animals, he is engaged in many fields where he can apply the same work.

I am truly amazed that such an institution as a vegan food bank exists in this world. So blessed that I was able to be part of it and write about it in a vegan magazine. Thank you, Universe! 🙂

Here is a small clip of the featured article: View this post on Instagram

Vegan magazine website, sorry, only in Estonian.

I am featured in EAKBL!

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Today’s discovery of finding myself randomly from EAKBL – Eesti Kunsti ja Arhitektuuri Biograafiline Leksikon, in English Biographical Lexicon of Estonian Art and Architecture, brought out a huge laugh. Not sure why, but it felt so unreal to see my name there. Me in a biographical lexicon. Also referred to as an artist. Is this real?

Anyhow, I am curious about it, so I guess I have to find out more about how this happened, and I have actually done way more than this. 🙂

October – summer is over

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Yes, the wonderful, surprising, uplifting, heart-filling, and ever-so-stimulating September is over. What a release, discovery, and coming together within myself. I guess some start writing a book about it, as yes, it is such a powerful and unexpected feeling. One should definitely experience this at least once in their life. Unfortunately, I do not have any guidance on how to get to that level. Also, is this a lasting state or a temporary one?

Anyway, I didn’t want to talk about that, but of October. The month when I realized that the summer is over! 🙂 So enjoy the bright colours and let your inner sun shine bright. Lift yourself up, listen to good music, eat good food or do not eat at all, just be better to people around you and do some crazy stuff. But keep others in your mind and be respectful. Always. Remember, the world is not you.

And the photo is an old one, which I found accidentally online. Not even sure anymore, from which source. But here it is. Perfect for this post!

Toronto Estonian House: Last Act in media

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I was super glad to see that so many media outlets shared my press release about the opening of the photography show “Toronto Estonian House: Last Act”. Way to go! I am super happy – most likely my most shared photography exhibition so far.

BaltHerNet

EestiElu.ca

ERR.ee

EstonianWorldReview.ca

kultuuriaken.tartu.ee

Ring.fm

Uudis.net

Visitsouthestonia.ee

Have you seen it yet? If not, then it is up until the end of October, 30th to be exact. So you still have some time!

Exploring the Toronto Estonian House at Tartu City Library

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I am extremely proud to present that one of my best and largest shows, Toronto Estonian House: Last Act, is now presented at Tartu City Library, located at Kompanii 3/5. It is pleasantly open Monday through Friday, 10:00-20:00, Saturday, 10:00-16:00, closed on Sunday. So, you will have plenty of options to take a look.

What I hope the most for is to receive an email from a person who has visited the Estonian House in Toronto themselves. It would be so great to hear their impressions and perhaps to see photos they took of the building. Please share this post with your friends, as perhaps there is someone in Tartu who should see it and has a reason to email me.

Here are previous posts related to the Toronto Estonian House I have published before:

July exhibition for a day

The stillness of the Toronto Estonian House – photo gallery vol. 2

Estonian House in Toronto is no more

Looking forward to your emails at kerly/at/kerlyilves.ee

June to be or not to be…

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or something like that. It is a mess, but please continue.

Yay! The first summer month is here! Yet the question remains, which summer it will be this time – the hot and dry or the cold and rainy one. While living in Estonia, it is always a gamble. I prefer something in between, as the hot sun or cold rainy days are not the best options to enjoy the summer.

The June photo is about a similar dilemma – which side of the coin will it be? You can look at the big picture or the small details – what will you choose? Most of the time, we have a choice, but with the weather, we don’t.

I guess it will be what it will be. We seem to talk too much about the weather anyway. Whatever we are given, I hope that I can see some bigger pictures and find myself lost in looking for the small details. After all, the smallest things matter the most, so keep looking!

A close-up of a colourful caterpillar symbolizes the unpredictability of summer weather.

February discoveries

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This winter has been extremely poor in snow. I am used to snow and cold temperatures and I do not mind it really, so I was excited to be back at home and enjoy the winter. So far I haven’t even gotten my skis out yet! So it left me with some extra time to discover what the dark February had to offer. I wandered around in the garden looking for something small to capture. It happened to be one happy evening when there was some snow coming down. I wasn’t aiming to capture the snowflakes, but the sharp ends of the tiny coniferous tree. I didn’t even think that the ends of the little needles have such strong ends. So there you go – again something new learned in this whole wide world!

Th city of Tartu’s urban planning for 2030+

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I haven’t posted posts of my photos for a while, which I have found online from different websites. They tend to pop up now and then. Here is one used to illustrate the city of Tartu’s urban planning for the years 2030+.

Unfortunately, I can’t find the source of this website, but luckily I have this screenshot saved.

I took this photo, while I was exploring the river Emajõgi and Supilinn borough, as it captured the communication between the river and the borough. Emajõgi is always an interesting subject at any season. I should explore it in the winter and see what it looks like now.

Happy New Year 2025!

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It has been a while since I last wrote anything in here. I guess time flies and life changes. This post will replace the post that I have had up since June 2023. Today is the 1st of January, 2025. So much has happened and there is so much to share, so if you care, please check the previous posts on the blog section occasionally. I will keep adding new stuff and share some news. Even if they are old, perhaps someone will learn something new or experience some good photography.

After many years, I was back in my hometown, which has become unaffordable, but this is another subject. On New Year’s Eve, the best I know how to greet the new year is taking fireworks photos, especially when my connection with photography has gotten lost. Since the city of Tartu no longer offers fireworks, the private citizens took the matter into their own hands and created a wonderful light show for my short photography session.

As usual, there are the so-called must photos, and then there are those photos, which are actually more interesting and offer a greater viewing pleasure and more information than just a beautiful fireworks photo. So, please allow me to share three photos I chose to present here to give you an idea of what I mean.

First photo.

Even though this is not your average dark-sky and colourful fireworks photo (I cropped some of those as well), then I still consider it now of the must photos. It was quite an accident how this photo came to be. My camera was pointed in the city direction, from where I was hoping to capture the fireworks photos, but since that didn’t happen, then after fireworks started appearing by the canal, I just turned the tripod head around and started shooting.

Second photo.

This frame created me the most joy, as I have never seen fireworks sent like that into the water. Sure the arches create interesting elements, but I as an environment lover, started thinking about the pollution and how it would have affected the life of the water creatures. The people in the front add definitely more to this frame and bring more life to it.

Third photo.

This is my favourite shot. A photo which I guess has the most meaning. Imagine the beach which was so busy and full of people and fireworks, is now stranded, but you can see two boxes of fireworks cases on fire and a lone figure, admiring the faraway fireworks in solitude by a quiet canal. I was not sure before writing these lines, which photo I would put up on the front page, but I guess this is it.

Overall, I feel like I am back in business, so if you need some photos in Estonia, please drop me a line at kerly/at/kerlyilves.ee Enjoy the new year and make the best out of it!