Toronto-based photographer David Kaufman celebrated the opening of his newest exhibition, Early Sunday Morning, last week at Queen Street's Twist Gallery as part of the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.
In his newest collection, Kaufman documentsToronto's rapidly depleting stock of mid-twentieth century architecture. He focuses in particular on the facades of the many three-story brick buildings that line Queen Street East and West, many of which were constructed between 1880 and the beginning of the First World War.
"In the past two years I noticed I was drawn increasingly to Queen Street," says Kaufmen. "Where there seems to be buildings of an advanced age--more than a hundred years old--more than on any other street."
"It's not that I started off with the intention of photographing Queen Street its just that in seeking out interesting buildings and older buildings I noticed that there was a large stock of buildings on Queen Street more than a century old. And so I began consciouslyto photograph the whole street, from Ronsisvalle all the way to Carlow."
Though often overlooked, Kaufman argues that these buildings have a particular significance to the character of the streetscape.
"They are commercial buildings of no particular historical note but nonetheless they have a certain beauty that really puts them above a lot of other commercial buildings in Toronto. These buildings are really significant in the sense that they have more ornate brickwork, they're three-stories high, they have significant window arches."
And, as Kaufman notes,it's these very buildings that are rapidly disappearing from Toronto's downtown core. He adds, "in many cases, only the photographs will remain."
The timeliness of Kaufman's work helps to explain why the conversations about Early Sunday Morning have moved beyond the pictures themselves to include a roundtable on the city's architectural heritage and a psychogeographical walking tour of Kaufmen's infrastructural subjects.
Tomorrow evening (Thursday May 9), Toronto's
resident flanuer Shawn Micallef (also former editor of Yonge Street) will use Kaufman's work as inspiration to lead a 'Psychogeographical Stroll around Queen and Ossignton.' The tour will begin at Twist Gallery with an artist talk by Kaufmen, after which Micallef will take participants on a stroll of the area, pointing out its often overlooked heritage buildings.
And, on Saturday May 11, a group of Toronto heritage and architectural experts -- Margeret Zeidler (architect and founder and president of Urbanspace Property Group), Deanne Taylor (Toronto-based playwright and civic activist), and Adam Vaughan (Toronto city councillor representing Ward 20, Trinity Spadina) -- will hold a public roundtable discussion based on Kaufman's work. The talk, Toronto's heritage Streetscapes: can they be saved? is open to the public and will be held at Twist Gallery beginning at 2:30pm.
"Early Sunday Morning" runs at Twist Gallery (1100 Queen Street West) from May 1 to May 26, 2013.
To sign up for 'A Psychogeographical Stroll around Queen and Ossignton' email
[email protected].
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: David Kaufmen