A mini photo-essay on the Toronto City Hall. The complex is a striking example of modern architecture. I think the round structure between the two towers looks a bit like a flying saucer come to rest. Whatever you think of it, it is certainly a daring piece of architectural design for what is usually a very conservative concept.
Toronto City Hall
A different view of City Hall, including the arches that span the fountain on the plaza in front. I got lucky and had a lone seagull flying just between the two towers when I released the shutter. I think that makes the image, don’t you?
City Hall, Birds
The plaza in front of City Hall. They have concerts and performances on the stage all summer long, and the fountain turns into an ice rink in the winter, thus the “Snacks” and “Skates” signs on the building beside the fountain.
Lest you get the idea that I travel to and photograph completely depopulated urban areas, I thought I’d do a feature on people in urban areas, doing things. Part of the reason I don’t have many photos of people out in public is, believe it or not, I’m shy behind my camera. I’m working on getting better at taking people’s pictures that I don’t have a relationship with.
I saw this young man on the street, playing with his phone. I liked his look and wanted a candid shot. I think it worked.
Young Man, King Street
Two young women buying gelato bars from a vintage canvas-top delivery truck. The truck is almost a scooter it’s so small. I wouldn’t want to be the ice cream vendor, having to stand stooped over under the cover all day. Unless I were Peter Dinklage, then I would fit comfortably. But if I were Peter Dinklage, I’d have better things to do with my time than selling ice cream bars. Like trying to manage the kingdom without getting killed by my sister.
Bar Ape Gelato Truck
I’m seeing more cities installing public plazas like this where they close off part of a street, put in plants and chairs, and turn the area into a social space for people to relax and interact. The most notable example is parts of Broadway off of Times Square and Herald Square in New York City. Here is a spot in Toronto where they’ve adopted the same idea – obviously successful, from the napping young man. You can see a tiny piece of the Scotiabank Theater in the upper left of the image, which is where I went to my international short films screening at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival).
Toronto Napping
I had shown this before, in my color series about the Distillery District. Here it is again, from a different angle, in black-and-white. The distillation sculpture draws people in and encourages interaction, both under and around it. It also makes a great focal point for the Distillery District space – you can always tell someone “meet me at the sculpture in an hour” and you won’t get lost trying to reconnect.
I’ve always loved buildings, since I was a little kid. I was fascinated by castles and old buildings of all kinds (I grew up in a house that predated the Civil War in a town that was burned by the Confederates). Now, I’m equally fascinated by modern urbanity. Here’s some of my take on super urban Toronto.
I like black and white for architecture, especially modern glass and steel architecture, because it amplifies the abstraction of geometry found in modern design.
A street car emerges from the shadows of the urban canyon carved between high rise office towers. Pedestrians become silhouettes in the early morning light. An early Sunday morning in downtown Toronto:
Early Morning, Downtown Toronto
A daring facade wiggles between more traditional office towers:
University Street, Toronto
A modern condo building rises above the traditional Victorian and Edwardian streetscape of the city center. Taxis fill the street below in the hustle and bustle of the human beehive of activity, while overhead power lines for streetcars divide the sky into grids:
New Condos, Toronto
The CN Tower soars above downtown, framed by other towers. The sweeping roofline of the concert hall below directs the eye to the CN Tower from any angle:
CN Tower, Concert Hall
Modern apartments frame an industrial-era chimney in a contrast of textures:
Two Towers, Toronto
Two street lamps crane forward into the scene in zoomorphic curves, the necks and heads of two flamingos, breaking the chaotic geometry of the polygonal tower behind them:
Two Streetlamps, Reflections, Glass and Steel
Looking straight up, towers and street lamps criss-cross the sky:
Streetlamp and Skyscraper
Mirrored windows of one tower reflect upon another, as vertical lines converge out of frame:
I’ve called this one “Because, William Shatner” because the woman on the street is striking a similar pose to the cardboard cutout of William Shatner in his Captain Kirk uniform in the second story window. Which is there for no apparent reason beyond the fact that William Shatner is Canadian. And the jerk in the BMW seemed to think it was ok to park on the sidewalk underneath the Captain Kirk cutout, despite the no parking sign on the pole. Because, William Shatner… you see where this is going.
Because, William Shatner
Across the street from the watchful gaze of the Cardboard Kirk, stands this sculpture. The first time I saw it, back in June, I thought it was an ice cream cone that had been dropped on its head. This time, I saw the tape measure embedded in the sidewalk and the signs proclaiming the area “Toronto’s Fashion District”, and I realized it is a thimble. But I still think whatever it’s sitting on looks nothing like anything relating to fashion, sewing, fabric, or otherwise so much as a stack of smashed ice cream scoops. Or maybe weird Italian cookies.
Ice Cream Thimble
The aforementioned stylized tape measure, embedded in the sidewalk. I tried to capture the sparkly gold glitter in the tape measure, but it didn’t quite work – the glitter tends to record too bright and washes out.
Sidewalk Tape Measure
And over on King Street again, we have the For Your Eyes Only “Gentlemen’s” club, aka titty bar. At least they’re showing their civic pride with the skyline emblazoned on their front doors in steel cutouts.
Some random photos of the buildings and spaces at the Distillery District in Toronto.
Ivy, Fire Escape, Distillery District
The central plaza in the middle of the distillery district is occupied by this interpretive sculpture designed to reflect the history of the complex, and provide a focal point for people to converge upon. I don’t know how comfortable it would be to sit beneath it; while it certainly provides shade, all that copper would make for a terrific radiator on a summer day.
Distillery Sculpture
I went for a more abstract look with this composition – this is about angles and forms, and visually leading lines. The structure is a chute used to move barrels of liquor from the top floor of the distillery to the waiting trucks to be loaded and sent out.
Distillery Chute
The sign of the distillery still graces the covered walkway between two brick and stone structures in the distillery complex.
Some random finds from around the urban center of Toronto. These were in the area of King and Queen Streets, between Bathurst and Spadina for the most part.
The first three were found on Queen Street. Queen Street is a bit rougher around the edges, but in a kind of hipster/grunge way. It looks worse than it is – I ran into a panhandling junkie getting set up for the morning, baby-sitting his friend’s Rottweiler puppy. We had a great chat about my Rolleiflex, he didn’t even ask me for money, and the Rotty came over to me of her own free will, licked my hand, and rubbed up against my legs. That’s pretty emblematic for how friendly Toronto is – even the panhandler’s dog is nice.
Bang-On T-shirts
I think it’s the wildest coolest thing that a dive bar would decorate their wall with a mural of a face, smoking and talking on the phone, and giant
insect sculptures crawling over the upper floors. It makes me actually want to go in and find out what’s so special about the place – I bet they have some really funky live music.
Cameron House
Isn’t this a terrific cultural contrast? Poutine next door to Falafel. About the only way you could outdo that is to put a Kosher deli next door to a Carolina Pulled Pork shop. But it wouldn’t surprise me if such a juxtaposition existed somewhere in Toronto.
Poutine Falafel
Over on King Street, we’re getting a bit more upscale with this pan-asian restaurant. This stretch of King was where all the beautiful people attending TIFF were hanging out.
Pan-Asian, King Street
Perfect Leather looks sketchy on the outside, but from what I could see through their windows, this looks to be THE place to shop for leathers and fabrics if you’re in the garment trade in Toronto.
I know I’m repeating hydrants in the same post, but they’re substantially different takes on the same subject.
Hydrant, Graffiti
I also find it interesting that we have Mueller hydrants in Washington DC but they look very different.
Mueller Hydrant, TorontoMueller Hydrant, K Street, DC
Another pay phone shot, showing the much-abused state of the poor neglected utility. I see a lot more pay phones around Toronto, but still not many people using them.
Two versions of the same scene- which do you think works better?
Cine Cycle – WideCine Cycle – Close
I’m still on the fence – the wide shot has that extra splash of color from the door on the next building, and the visually leading lines, but the tight shot pulls your attention to the sign.
Two streetcars passing in the early morning light on Queen Street in Toronto. I loved the way the sunlight passed through the gap in the buildings to spotlight the distant streetcar.
Streetcars, Morning Light
I was the first passenger on the line that morning – it’s one of the double articulated streetcars.
Ok, this one gets its own shot because it’s just too cool for school and doesn’t play well with others. I was up in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival last weekend. I rented an apartment on Fort York Boulevard, right down by Lake Ontario. The apartment had a view of the downtown skyline, including the CN Tower, which is the tallest structure in North America, and if I recall correctly, the 15th tallest in the world. As such, it attracts lightning strikes. I was lucky enough to be there for a late-summer thunderstorm, and to photograph it through my apartment window during that storm, and catch a shot of the CN Tower getting struck.
CN Tower, Lightning
I promise you it was far more impressive in person than it is in the photo.
dcphotoartist 