Making Eye Statements: We Are Stardust

“Today we can tell the story of our beginnings in a wonderfully dramatic way, borne out of the explosion of a giant star 4.5 billion years ago. From the stardust of that explosion, every atom in our bodies began a long journey, through transformation after transformation, to who and what we are today. There are atoms in our bodies that were once in dinosaurs...in the Buddha, in Jesus...We are stardust become human.”

- Michael Morwood, Australian theologian

and former Roman Catholic priest

I begin this blog post at the corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets in downtown Toronto. It is one of the busiest, most dynamic street intersections in Canada – suffused with Michael Morwood’s “stardust become human.” It’s also grubby, noisy, pushy...and I love it. One of the great pleasures of my three decades of living in Toronto was regulalrly standing at this intersection, breathing in its energy and vigour. Not coincidentally, it is also a terrific location for street photography. Which is what I was doing last Tuesday afternoon for about an hour. And because I am now a senior, people tend to ignore me...which is why I was able to stand there with my camera and record over 500 photos without being challenged once. Ah, the joys of being invisible...you can get away with so much!

Street photography has become one of my great passions. The simple act of observing the vast array of faces is rewarding enough in itself, but being able to record those faces in all their glory is a delightful bonus. Stardust become human, indeed.

At the October 1st meeting of the Prince Edward County Photography Club, I am scheduled to make a presentation about street photography - a great opportunity to clarify my thoughts and approach to this fascinating area of photography.

I hope you enjoy these twelve photos of Toronto’s Yonge/Dundas area, plus another four similar photographs recorded at the wonderful Milford Fair in Prince Edward County on Saturday.