“Face to Place,” a photo exhibition at St. Lawrence Market’s Market Gallery, is a raw and nostalgic attempt at capturing urban life in a city that’s constantly changing.
To the right of the gallery’s entrance, a series of three photographs by Bradley Lipton line the wall. They’re a tribute to his grandfather, whose death gave Lipton’s connection to the Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue area new meaning.
His grandfather had a home in the area. His family packed up all the belongings inside, except an oak cabinet that was nailed to the floor. Months later, the superintendent destroyed the cabinet with a sledgehammer and left the pieces on the street.
Lipton, who lives nearby, walked and drove past the wood pile for days. He says, “The best thing I could do was just take my camera and photograph all this junk, as it were.”
Other photos in the exhibition include portraits by Horst Herget, of people who live in his Danforth Avenue neighbourhood. There are also collages by Alan Dunlop, made of negatives from the WWI era.
An interactive installation—complete with music, a velvet rope, and red carpet—was created by Yousef Afridi, an account manager and nightlife photographer.
Afridi has a connection to King Street in particular. He says the scene was more sophisticated when he started taking pictures seven years ago. Now the area, he says, “has become what Adelaide and Richmond used to be, combined.”
Jason Brown has three of his own photographs in the exhibition. He sees Toronto as a place in “perpetual progress.”
“I find that inspiring,” he says, “the change that’s happening, largely in the downtown core.”
Photo by Courtney Greenberg/Torontoist.