Yvonne Bambrick

What: International Women’s Day: Film Screening and Panel Discussion – ‘The Journey of Feminism’
Where: The Law Society of Upper Canada at Osgoode Hall
When: March 1, 2011

In recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8th, the Law Society of Upper Canada, in partnership with the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, the Ontario Bar Association and the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, hosted a well-attended documentary screening, panel discussion & reception at Osgoode Hall.

The evening began with the screening of the documentary, Constitute! which explores the largest social mobilization of women in Canadian history and shares the stories of female activists who fought for stronger equality provisions in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Following the screening, a panel of feminists, including those involved in making the documentary, were on hand to discuss the vitality of the movement in Canada – both now and in the future.  Moderated by Professor and Law Society bencher Constance Backhouse, featured panelists were Clara Ho, Staff Lawyer, Advocacy Centre for the Elderly; Linda Palmer Nye, Constitute! film subject; Marilou McPhedran, Principal, Global College, University of Winnipeg and Constitute! film subject; Julie Lassonde, Lawyer; and Mehrak Mehrvar, Gender and Governance Specialist, International Development.

The panel concluded with a recap of what continues to energize the feminist movement; its diversity, inclusivity, expertise, hard work, fun, courage, and camaraderie.  The wine and cheese reception featured a live jazz duet, and some 60’s style sing songs fit for a feminist gathering sung beautifully by Linda Palmer Nye!

* Yvonne Bambrick is an Urban Cycling Consultant and a Toronto-based Event & Portrait Photographer. Cross-posted at http://www.lawandstyle.ca

(* I’ve just joined the Precedent Magazine team to shoot & report on local lawyer-type events that will be featured on their site lawandstyle.ca)

Today’s excellent post (with useful links) by Grist columnist Elly Blue, ‘How Bicycling Will Save the Local Economy (if we let it)‘ reminded me of how often I’ve tried to emphasize this message when speaking about the myriad benefits of cycling.

“Imagine getting a $3,000 to $12,000 tax rebate this year. Now imagine it coming again and again. Every year it grows by around a thousand dollars. Imagine how this would change your daily life. … it’s actually a conservative estimate of how much you’d save by ditching your car, or even just one of your cars — and getting on a bicycle instead.”

By switching to cycling transportation, rather than spending a yearly average of $8,500 of your hard-earned income on car payments, insurance, parking, tickets, maintenance and gas… you can redirect some of it into the local economy via groceries, theatre, restaurants, services, etc.., as well as contribute more to your own personal savings for retirement (don’t know about you, but this is something I’m starting to take more seriously).

Thanks to great car-sharing services like Auto-Share now widely available in the city, you can have access to 4 wheels whenever you really need them and still save thousands!  I sold my car (that I was very attached to) back in 2001 to help pay for grad school – I’ve been on 2 wheels, year-round, ever since and haven’t missed the expense, responsibility, or hassle of car ownership one bit.  I’ve structured my life in such a way that I can get to 95% of my regular destinations by bike.  The TTC, or car rental, are handily available on the rare occasions that my bike just won’t get me there.  Although I don’t have to worry about children, I have several friends with kids who have found excellent, non-car solutions.

Although this infographic is specific to car ownership costs in the US, it applies equally well here in Canada and shows the immense amounts of money that are redirected out of our local economy due to the automobile.

Investing in the local economy. Infographic by MGMT Design

And bikes/cyclists really are great for business! There’s been some excellent research done locally by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation and the Clean Air Partnership via their 2009 report ‘Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business‘. Amongst other very compelling findings about the benefits of on street bike infrastructure, they found that in the study area, “Patrons arriving by foot and bicycle visit the most often and spend the most money per month.”

As per Elly’s piece – there are many additional economic, environmental and health-related benefits to cycling. Not to mention how much FUN it is to ride!

Seems there were quite a number of Centre for Social Innovation members interested in an updated headshot. Here are a few images from the two ‘Photo Day’ portrait sessions I held this week to kick off my new photo gig.

Shooting portraits is quite a connective experience.  I really enjoy helping people feel at ease with being photographed, and involving them in the photographic process.  With the ‘preview magic’ of digital cameras, I can get immediate feedback from the subject to see what works for them, or not, as we try different things with lighting, background changes, etc…

These images have been cropped, and I’ve also done some very slight modifications to correct for blemishes, stray hairs, tricky reflections in glasses, fluffy bits on jackets, and the like.

I can say wholeheartedly that upgrading both my camera and laptop were the best things I’ve done in recent months – and now my friends and colleagues can benefit from some high quality images since I’m available as a shooter-for-hire!

Common Problem: Access to a quality headshot photo of yourself that is suitably professional, but not too boring, and that you are comfortable using.

Solution: Portrait photography service that comes to you, by bicycle no less! Get in touch to coordinate a Photo Day shoot with workplace colleagues, or book a one-on-one session just for yourself.

Offering: A fabulous, high quality portrait of you in four handy formats.

You approve the image on the spot!  I email you 4 digital files for unlimited use on your website, in that upcoming conference program, your LinkedIn profile, on that new intranet at work…?

• 2 Print-ready image files, 1 wide cropped, 1 close cropped (large file sizes)
• 2 Web-ready image files, 1 wide cropped, 1 close cropped (small file sizes)

Payment: Cash preferred. Open to sliding scale & barter proposals
(Please note that rates below are for Non-Profits/Low Budget Biz)

Photo Day portraits, delivered via email within a week.
(5 subjects minimun for Photo Day)
$50 – Individual headshot
$100 – Group photo of your staff team
+ $25 for second photo (ex: 1 formal, 1 fun)

Alternate Date &/or Location portraits can also be arranged, images delivered via email within 2 days.
$75 - Individual headshot
$125 – Group photo of your staff team
+ $25 for second photo (ex: 1 formal, 1 fun)

For those of you that dislike having your photo taken, please note that I will make this as fun & painless as possible!

About the photographer:

Yvonne is an Urban Cycling Advocate & Consultant, an Independent Communications Professional, Coordinator of Toronto’s much loved Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, and the primary photographer for Green Power Magazine. With over ten years experience shooting events and portraits, her photos have appeared in numerous publications, including cycling magazines Momentum and Dandyhorse, Corporate Knights Magazine, Spacing, NOW and the Toronto Star, in addition to a wide variety of websites & business publications.

Sunday November 21st marked the final day of business for La Palette, my favorite place in Kensington Market, and the space through which I’ve had the pleasure of helping to coordinate Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington since 2004 with owner Shamez Amlani.

Close friend of the restaurant, Michael Louis Johnson put it best – “Goodbye La Palette in Kensington. You were more than a restaurant, you were a pirate ship. You gave jobs to talented artists, you helped a neighbourhood re-discover itself, you opened a little trap door from which we could escape this drab world of concrete and digital white noise. I can’t possibly count the number of deeply human experiences I’ve had sitting in the warm glow you created. Thank you.”

I didn’t get any pix of myself dancing on the bar for the first and final time on Saturday night (!!), but I did photograph the people and performances from Sunday night.

While the original location is no more, thankfully we still have the new La Palette on Queen St. at Portland!!

Thank you to Shamez & Maria, and all the amazing staff that have come and gone over the years, for making La Palette so special for so many. xo xo

Pretty sure this is not where the bus stops… maybe I’m wrong but I think the stop is on the South-West corner of Queen.  I took these photos on the NW corner of Dufferin/Queen St. W.

I watched two Southbound Dufferin buses drive the full length of this, admittedly very short, very new, bike lane. Do TTC drivers get retrained for major street modifications like this – now that the ‘Dufferin Jog’ has been eliminated?

No need to drive in the bike lane here – is it arrogance or ignorance? New street configuration or not, bike lanes are for cyclists, not buses. Surely that is part of TTC driver training.

Despite the seriously foul weather that hit Toronto last night, it was a full house at the Lula Lounge for the ‘Election Hangover Party’ that launched the final book in the Coach House Press uTOpia series.

“Local Motion – The Art of Civic Engagement in Toronto, presents an in-depth analysis of civic engagement in Canada’s largest city. Decisions about the things that matter most on a daily basis happen at the city level. So, how do we influence these decisions? What motivates ordinary citizens to take action and improve their community? How do neighbours organize together? Does City Hall facilitate engagement, or stand in the way? Local Motion explores how we, as citizens, can make a positive change in our city.”

My event photos can be viewed here.

Welcome to my online business card / occasional blog.

I’m in the process of developing an independent consultancy (more on that soon), but in the meantime here’s some information about a bit of what I’ve been up to since moving back to Toronto from abroad just before the 2003 Blackout.

I’ve most recently served and stepped down as the Director of Communications & Events, and Founding Executive Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union. As one of the key coordinators of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, a former Community Advisory Board Member / Photographer for Jane’s Walk, the original ‘Community Animator’ at the Centre for Social Innovation, and a Director on the Kensington Market Action Committee, I’ve been an important contributor to some of the most exciting sustainable urban transportation / transformation projects to emerge in Toronto since 2003.  As a published photographer, I’m often found with a camera in my hand, and am equally comfortable conversing in French or English.  I’m a year round cyclist and love my home town Toronto!

Here’s a piece from City TV with a bit more info on me/my recent work.