Month: <span>November 2018</span>

Published November 30, 2018 by

Yonge and Dundas, Toronto, 1984

Avard Woolaver, Yonge and Dundas, Toronto, Yonge Dundas Square, 1984,

This part of Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square is unrecognizable today, but this is how it looked in 1984. The photo was taken on Dundas East, looking west toward the intersection of Yonge and Dundas, and the Eaton Centre.

The Square was created in 2003 in an effort by the city to create a version of New York’s Times Square, or London’s Piccadilly Circus. The block of buildings on the left (with the Coles sign) was demolished, and the seven foot bronze sculpture “Bird of Spring” by Inuit artist Abraham Etungat was moved to the nearby Ryerson Community Park (aka the Quadrangle). The trees were also removed–critics of the development said that the city missed out on the opportunity for more green space in the downtown core.

There was a lot more open space in the city back in 1984, which meant more light on the downtown streets. It was about ten years before the start of the condo boom. There is a PCC streetcar (known as the Red Rocket) visible down at the intersection. People are out walking in the the September sun. Change and progress are inevitable, but I like to remember the Toronto of the 1980s. Call me nostalgic!

Here is what Yonge-Dundas Square looks like in a 2014 photo. The 1984 photo was taken below the red billboard on the right.

Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto,

 

Photography Toronto

1984 Avard Woolaver Toronto Yonge-Dundas Square

Published November 29, 2018 by

Kensington Market, Toronto, 1983

Avard Woolaver, Kensington Market, Toronto, 1983, Stranger Cole,

Kensington Market, Toronto, 1983                            © Avard Woolaver

Kensington Market is a vibrant multicultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, just off Spadina Avenue. It is likely the most photographed area in the city and it’s no accident that I did a lot of my street photography there.

Before moving to Toronto I vaguely knew about the place from the  CBC TV comedy King of Kensington  starring Al Waxman. And there was a famous Toronto band called Kensington Market with their hit, I Would Be The One. But nothing could prepare me for the unique vibe of the place.

This photo shows the storefront of Stranger Cole Roots Records. Cole is a Jamaican singer who set up this shop in the 1970s. Empty boxes from a nearby produce store litter the sidewalk. A man in a retro suit looks lost in thought. And I just happened to be passing by with my Rollei 35S.

Photography Toronto

Avard Woolaver Kensington Market King of Kensington Stranger Cole Toronto

Published November 28, 2018 by

Thinking of Alex Colville (1920-2013)

Amherst, Nova Scotia, Alex Colville, painting, photo,

Amherst, Nova Scotia, 2013                           © Avard Woolaver

Like many Canadians my age, my first exposure to the artist Alex Colville was on the cover of Bruce Cockburn’s 1973 album Night Vision. The painting, titled Horse and Train, shows a horse galloping down a railroad track on collision course with an oncoming train. It had a big impact on me; it spoke of reality versus the dream world, order vs. disorder, and machine vs. nature. It was perhaps my first time seeing magic realism.

Colville spent some of his childhood in Amherst, Nova Scotia where this photo was taken. He later attended nearby Mount Allison University where he met South African poet Roy Campbell. Some lines from one of his poems inspired him to create Horse and Train.

I scorn the goose-step of their massed attack
And fight with my guitar slung on my back,
Against a regiment I oppose a brain
And a dark horse against an armoured train. — Roy Campbell

When I stumbled upon this location, I thought it might be the same one as used in the painting–the curve of the track seemed similar, and it’s in the town where he spent his youth. Though the setting was likely in the open expanses of the nearby Tantramar Marsh. My photo features a wind turbine–nature is working together with the machine, rather than against it. And it isn’t “fight the power,” rather “produce the power.”

This photo was taken just nine days before his death in 2013. He will always be remembered as one of Canada’s finest artists. You can see more of his wonderful work here: http://alexcolville.ca/gallery/

Colour Photography

Alex Colville Avard Woolaver Horse and Train painting photograph

Published November 27, 2018 by

Ryerson Campus, Toronto, 1983

Ryerson, Avard Woolaver, Toronto, 1983, Victoria and Gould,

Ryerson Campus, Toronto, 1983                            © Avard Woolaver

Ryerson University is located in downtown Toronto near Yonge-Dundas Square–one of the city’s busiest intersections. As a photography student I was given various assignments and didn’t need to go far to find interesting subject matter. This photo was taken just steps from the Film and Photography Building; it can be seen in the far left of the image. For someone like me who grew up on a farm in rural Nova Scotia, Toronto was at first big and scary. But as time passed it became a wonderful, vibrant place bursting with photographic potential.

Photography Toronto

1983 Avard Woolaver Ryerson street photography Toronto

Published November 27, 2018 by

Yonge Street, Toronto, 1982

No Money Down, Toronto, photobook, photography, Yonge Street,

Taken from the rooftop of Sam the Record Man. For me, having a camera in my hand at all times helped me remember: You only get to do this once. We have to take the time to see it as clearly as we can.

from the book: No Money Down – Toronto (1980-1986)
https://goo.gl/Km6dB1

Photography Toronto

1980s Avard Woolaver No Money Down photo book Toronto