photographers | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘photographers’

oh the people you’ll meet

Posted: August 5, 2026 in galleries
Tags: AGO, art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Barbara Astman, Diego Marcon, gallery, Laura Muntz Lyall, Louis Valtat, Lynn Donoghue, Natalka Husar, paintings, photographers, photography, photos, Rae Johnson, Sandra Brewster, Suzy Lake, Yayoi Kusama

On a recent wander through the Art Gallery of Ontario I encountered a few ‘people’. They were happy, forlorn, busy, engaging, cute, creepy, odd, and more. I hope that you’ll agree!

below: “Interesting Story” 1898, by Laura Muntz Lyall (1860-1930)

below: A Louis Valtat (1869-1952, French) painting that depicts a couple at a cabaret. Can you see the dancer?

below: “June”, bright and bold, by Lynn Donoghue (1953-2003, Canadian)

below: This is a section of “Torn Heart” by Natalka Husar (b. 1951, Ukrainian roots). One comment about her painting that I saw on an AGO website is, “Husar’s paintings are a compelling mix of joy, guilt, mystery, and seduction, and Torn Heart vividly expresses the complexities and paradoxes of love stories we have all lived.” (source)

below: “Night Games at the Paradise” by Rae Johnson (1953-2020, Canadian) is a painting of people sitting in the outdoor section of a bar next to Johnson’s Toronto home. No one is happy.

below: Watching one the videos made by Diego Marcon (b. 1985 in Italy). I am having trouble with this one as I found Macron’s videos to be too creepy, too dark. His digital/CGI people don’t look quite right (on purpose?).

The AGO has a photography exhibit, “Picture Space” (until 1 Nov 2026) that features some photos from their collection, including from the following four photographers.

below: Barbara Astman (b. 1950, Canadian) – two big eyes staring back at you. This is “Seeing and Being Seen #1”

below: Luther Konadu’s photos from “Ambient Photo” are actually four put together and displayed in one horizontal image. I have separated them into two halves (this photo and the next). “Ambient Photo” is on ongoing project that looks at the mechanics of photography.

below: Sandra Brewster’s “Hiking Black Creek” 2018 is a very large picture that is printed on wood panels. The original photo was taken in the 1970s and shows her parents hiking shortly after they arrived in Toronto from Guyana.

below: “Beauty at a Proper Distance” by Suzy Lake (b. 1947 in Detroit, now in Toronto).

And last, with a bit of silliness, a quirky photo taken in Yayoi Kusama’s infinity room.

CONTACT on Queen West

Posted: May 10, 2026 in galleries
Tags: 18 Waits, Adrian Merritt Smith, Dianne Twombley, exhibit, Frances Patella, Gallery 1313, Gladstone Hotel, Gregg Thurlbeck, images, Natalie Hunter, Offshoot!, Peter Friedrichsen, photographers, photography, photos, Propeller Gallery, Ryan Bolton, Twist Gallery, Yuma Dean Hester

Exploring CONTACT exhibits along a small stretch of Queen Street West.

Gladstone Hotel

below: Two images, on the left artwork by Dianne Twombley and on the right, an image by Natalie Hunter, “Of Rust and Rays (Slater Steel)”

******

Paul Petro Contemporary

below: On the upper floor of the gallery, an exhibit by Ho Tam, “Lessons 2000” (until June 6th). The photos look back to Tam’s childhood and school days in Hong Kong.

below: On the ground floor of the gallery, photos by Marlene Creates, “Selected Works from 24 Years in a Patch of Old-Growth Boreal Forest… ” (also until June 6th). The pictures show a hand in front of different types of trees in different years.

******

Propeller Gallery

below: “Yellow Tree”, mixed media, burnt wood, wire, by Frances Patella

below: Small mixed media images on acrylic, also by Frances Patella

below: “Reflected”, one of the photographs taken by Peter Friedrichsen as part of his “Emergence” exhibit (until 24 May). His photos were taken at Tommy Thompson Park (once the Leslie Street Split) to help document the evolution of that space. The images were processed using pigments made from brick and charcoal gathered from the site. (My apologies but the reflections in the gallery were awkward here).

******

Twist Gallery

“Before Borders”is the show at the Twist Gallery. It is a collaboration between Ryan Bolton and Yuma Dean Hester (until the end of May).

below: “Driving Back Through the Northern Rockies” (unfortunately with reflections), by Ryan Bolton

below: Somewhere along the Liard River, by Yuma Dean Hester

******

18 Waits

below: 18 Waits is actually a men’s clothing store where everything is made in Toronto . Here, Adrian Merritt Smith has an exhibit titled “Retreat” that is showing until 31 May. This first picture was taken while driving through Saskatchewan.

below: Top to bottom: Dundas Valley, Kearney, and near Chatsworth (all in Ontario).

Gallery 1313

There are three shows here – first, by Gregg Thurlbeck second a group exhibit by Offshoots!, and last a small selection of the missing persons posters from New York City after 9/11.

below: Two of Gregg Thurlbeck’s images from “City for the People, Forest for the Trees”.

Offshoot! 2026 (group exhibit), until May 11th including the following:

below: Benjamin Rondel – a photo that looks like a winter scene taken from above.

below: Christine Mack with a series on urban doors (mostly Toronto and Hamilton)

below: Jude Marion

below: Lilianne Schneider, “Old Tree”

******

along the St. Lawrence

Posted: July 7, 2025 in galleries, history
Tags: 401 Richmond, albumen, Alexander Henderson, Artspace TMU, Dawson Cox, history, photographers, photography, photos

In 1869, Canadian photographer Alexander Henderson (1831-1913) was commissioned to take a series of photos along the route of the new Grand Trunk Railway between Montreal and Toronto. These images were for a travel book, “All-round Route Guide” to sell to tourists and settlers along the route. This Montreal to Toronto section followed the north shore of the St. Lawrence for most of its route. The railway had opened in 1856 and more routes had been added (to Portland Maine! to Sarnia!) or were planned.

below: Lumberer’s Shanty, Lievre River, Quebec, before 1865

A recent exhibit at Artspace TMU (at 401 Richmond) showcased albumen prints of some of Henderson’s photos along with photos taken by Dawson Cox. All of Cox’s images were mounted on particle board. The exhibit was titled, “Like the Seams of a Coat”.

below: Camera store, corner of Clark and St Antoine, Montreal.

below: Victoria Square, Montreal, about 1872

below: Group shot

below: Group shot, 1870s style – G. Company of 78th Highlanders, taken by Alexander Henderson

Coat seams are usually hidden but they are essential to holding everything together. Important yet unseen.

below: Cox’s photo of torn graffiti on an old brick wall

below: Lake, Saint Bruno Mountain, Quebec, before 1865

old photo of a lake and st Bruno Mountain in Quebec, 1860s

photo of a stuffed fox, mounted standing on all fours and seeming to walk

below: L’Anse a l’Eau, Saguenay River, Quebec, 1868

old black and white photo, a lone scrawny pine tree on a rock overlooking the Saguenay River in Quebec, with village below, village of L'Anse a L'Eau

Dyke March 2024

Posted: June 29, 2024 in events, people
Tags: banners, costumes, crowds, dykes on bikes, flags, Gal Pals, Gals Together, groups, motorcycles, Olivia Chow, parade, people, photographers, photos, placards, police, rainbows, selfies, Yonge St.

Another June, another Dyke March!

Dykes on Bikes led the parade as usual.

below: Olivia Chow walks in the parade along with a Phenomenal Gaysian!

two Queen West galleries

Posted: May 23, 2024 in galleries
Tags: Bill Hornbostel, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Courtney Fairweather, Elaine Fleck Gallery, Eric Garsonnin, Gallery 1313, James Sutherland, Janne Reuss, Joachim Oepkes, Jude Marion, Lilianne Schneider, Margaret Kittel Canale, photographers, photography, photos, Ted Scott, Ulla Djelweh

… a CONTACT Photography post.

Gallery 1313 and Elaine Fleck Gallery are within a block of each other out in Parkdale and both were participating in this year’s festival.

The Elaine Fleck Gallery were featuring the work of one artist, Bill Hornbostel, in a retrospective show titled ‘Luminous Realism’. At Gallery 1313 I saw ‘Offshoot’, a collection of images from nine photographers. Unfortunately the latter was only on display until May 19th.

below: Hornbostel’s images are large, and shot at slightly longer exposures. Some of the photos, like this one of traffic on Bay Street south of Old city Hall, were taken in Toronto

below: ‘Offshoot’ at Gallery 1313

below: Margaret Kittel Canale, two building exteriors, orange and blue.

below: Jude Marion (two photos), industrial areas in Hamilton.

below: Lilianne Schneider with “Displaced” that looks at the abandonment and relocation of two heritage structures.

below: One of the photos by Courtney Fairweather who chose to highlight cell phone usage in today’s society.

below: Some interesting photographs by Ted Scott

below: When I first posted this, I thought these images were part of ‘Offshoot’ but I was mistaken. They are in fact part of a solo exhibit of digital photocollages by Janne Reuss (in a separate little room) titled ‘Thread(t)s and Narratives’ .

With apologies to the photographers whose work I haven’t shown (not missed on purpose): Joachim Oepkes, Ulla Djelweh, James Sutherland, and Eric Garsonnin.

The Bill Hornbostel show continues until the end of May

in the alleys near Queen and Spadina

Posted: September 21, 2020 in graffiti and street art
Tags: bald eagle, birch trees, daught calm, Elicser, feelings boi, frontline workers, Graffiti Alley, Greg Mike, Jim Bravo, kone, lambourghini, lanes, mural, Obey, people, peru143, photographers, photography, pink panther, posing, Queen Street West, Queen West, ROC, ROC(514), Rush Lane, Shepard Fairey, slaps, stickers, stikman, street art, walking, Zianna Oliphant, zonr

below: Older street art in an alley behind the north side of Queen Street West

below: Although it was painted in 2015, Greg Mike‘s message of “Stay positive” still applies.

below: Elicser‘s mural of a woman with a bald eagle fling over the city.

below: Keep calm and meow on!

below: The birch forest painting by Jim Bravo is still at Queen West and Denison.

below: Also remaining, is the remnants of this stikman although he is now covered with a fresh coat of paint.

below: Truth phone in Graffiti Alley, by Mike Salisbury

below: A ROC bird character in collaboration with kone

below: A tribute to frontline workers in Rush Lane. Treaty 13 between the British government and the Mississauga of New Credit is also known as the Toronto Purchase.

below: Pink panther

below: Stickers and slap on metal – zonr, feelings boi, and peru143

below: Two more stickers. Daughtcalm on the right and Obey, aka Shepard Fairy, on the left.

below: There is an “Obey Eye” mural on the side of a store on Queen West (near Portland) that was painted in 2014. It is on the upper level and in a small side alley. The words in the mural say OBEY never trust your own eyes always believe what you are told.

below: Part of the Black Lives Matter tribute murals that were painted back in June. Zianna Oliphant was the girl from Charlotte North Carolina who spoke for black rights at a council meeting after a fatal shooting of a black man by Charlotte police. Also, note the altered yellow sign that now says “Watch for Injustice”.

below: A green Lambourghini and it’s photoshoot.

Rush Lane and Graffiti Alley again

Posted: September 15, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Al Capone, alley, Elicser, graffiti, happy face, humans, Kaun, lane, madmaxxoner, murals, orek, paranoid, paste up, photographers, posing, selfies, stickers, street art, tripod, uber5000, urban ninja squadron, words, yelloww birdie

below: He may be blue but he’s smiling.

below: Preening and posing or just walking past. Saturday afternoon in Graffiti Alley.

below: It comes with words, a quote from Al Capone: “You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun, then you can with a kind word alone”. A mural by Madmaxxoner

below: A series of urban ninja squadron stickers on a pole

below: A grey face on a door, part of a mural by elicser

below: Square face with a four pointed crown, drawn on orange

below: So we meet alley drinking in fact(?) at 2 pm on a Teusday (sic Tuesday) it’s cool(?) and I have a half size bottle of wine some of us are in love and some us can’t be. We break off spinning in all directions and haven’t stopped since. And on top of it all is a paranoid sticker in his pink briefs. Make of it what you will.

below: Posing at the end of the alley

below: Set-up for a selfie

below: More of someone else’s selfie, this one in the partial darkness.

below: Smoke break

below: An uber5000 painting of blue cat painting a yellow birdie with a predatory camera bearing down on them.

below: We are all human by Kaun

below: More sharpie words, this time about the atomic power of prayer. Oh dear, I googled it and it’s a thing.

below: Paper paste-up telling us to eat more or proclaiming the presence of eatmore?

the morning after

Posted: April 24, 2018 in general Toronto
Tags: #torontostrong, bouquets, camera, deaths, Finch, flowers, languages, love, memorial, messages, park, photographers, reporters, RIP, signs, stuffed animals, support, van, wall, Yonge

Yonge Street was quiet this morning

In a small park near the SE corner of Yonge & Finch,

in many languages but with one voice,

a memorial wall to those who lost their life, or who were injured,

in yesterday’s tragedy.

There were many reporters with their cameramen at the site this morning. It was rumoured that Mayor John Tory was coming. I had an appointment, which is why I was in the area, so I couldn’t stay. As it turned out, both Tory and Kathleen Wynne (Ontario Premier) paid the memorial wall a visit.

Chasing the light along Queen Street

Posted: September 10, 2017 in old buildings, reflections, shadows
Tags: architecture, bride, bridge, cars, cathedral, church, city, construction cranes, evening, lamp posts, lights, Moss Park, people, photographers, railings, St. Michaels Cathedral, St. Mikes, street, street lights, traffic, urban, utility poles, wedding, wires

Shorter day light hours + autumn weather (no snow yet!) = an evening of playing with light and shadow. I came out of the subway at Queen station and decide to “chase the light”. It was a perfect evening for a walk and I wanted to make it last as long as possible. For the most part I stayed on Queen Street although I will admit to straying onto Shuter for a block or two. It’s not the prettiest part of the city but every place has potential, from a photographic perspective anyhow.

below: The new (replacement) pedestrian walkway over Queen Street that will link the Eaton Centre with The Bay.

below: City reflections in both glass and polished stone.

below: The curve of street car wires at Queen and Church. A wall of peeling paint, as well as a ghost sign, provides the backdrop

below: The east wall of St. Michaels Cathedral (RC) with reflected light, as seen across a construction site.

below: The same church from a slightly different angle.

below: Angels

below: Pigeons, old Bell phones and the Moss Park Discount Store. Not so much light here but I liked the wall.

below: A long way from home.

below: A large double billboard is black beside the old building. The building is at the corner of Ontario Street and Brigden Place. It was built in 1911 as a 4 1/2 storey warehouse for the Newell Company and their Dominion Envelope Company. It was one of three buildings that they owned in the area. After WW2 the building was purchased by J.D. Carrier Shoe Company (the ghost sign!). Today it has been renovated as lofts and studios.

below: A small section of the back of the Moss Park Armoury, a Canadian Forces building constructed in the 1960’s.

below: A quick break from chasing light…. you never know what you’re going to encounter downtown, and of course you have to stop and take advantage of the opportunities when they arise, so here we have a slight diversion! I’m going to assume that the background of their pictures is much better than the background of this picture!

below: As evening falls, the lights come on in the bus shelters.
You can thank (or curse) Astral Media for that.

below: King Street and Queen Street merge just before they pass over the Don River and the Don Valley Parkway. The green railing in the photo below is on the bridge over the DVP, the buildings and cranes are on the other side of the river.

below: Upstairs, downstairs. Looking west along King Street from the Don River.

Once the light fades beyond a certain point, contrast is limited and dullness creeps into the resulting photos. It’s too late for well lit photos and too early for pictures of city lights. But it’s a great time to stop and find some dinner!