Making Eye Statements: Street Photography Course Part 4: Toronto Is In The Details

Toronto Is in the Details

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”

Ansel Adams, American Photographer

Last Wednesday afternoon was the fourth session of the five-part Street Photography course that I’m currently taking through the Art Gallery of Ontario. We met our instructor, Brian Piitz, in front of the historic St. Lawrence Market on Front Street East at Jarvis Street. What a great neighbourhood this is! When I lived in Toronto, my late husband and I would frequently go to the St. Lawrence Market early on Saturday mornings just to soak up the atmosphere of people buying fresh meat and produce. It was a gourmand’s paradise...and it still is!

If you visit Toronto and only have time for one excursion, go to the St. Lawrence Market and surrounding neighbourhood. You’ll learn a lot about the miracle that is contemporary Toronto just by wandering around this place.

And, not coincidentally, it is also a great place for photography. Over the last three sessions of this course, I’ve been focusing mostly on people and faces. Last Wednesday, however, I decided to look more at architecture and streetscapes. The photographs that follow contain, by my count, one human being. So, it’s safe to claim that no human being was harmed in the making of these photos.

Most of the photos were made in the St. Lawrence Market area, with one side trip to the University of Toronto’s new Faculty of Architecture on Spadina Crescent. I hope you enjoy them.

The last session of the Street Architecture course is next Wednesday. Everyone is being asked to bring along 12 – 24 photos from our three field trips in downtown Toronto for feedback and discussion. I’m looking forward to seeing what my fellow students have been photographing. I will also be sad to see the course come to an end. It’s been great fun – and a great motivator!

In next week’s blog post, I’m planning to switch directions from Toronto street photography to the beauty of Tasmania. From June 6 to July 31, I will have fifteen Tasmanian photographs on display in the Corridor Gallery of the John M. Parrott Art Gallery, 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville. I plan to feature these fifteen photos in my post next week and discuss why they mean so much to me. Of course, if you live near Belleville, please visit the gallery and see for yourself!

As always, thank you for following my blog.