Urban Retrospect

Photography Drive, Closed.

admin — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:45:28 +0000

Photography Drive is a west end street that leads to the old Kodak plant. It closed in 2005, but had been in operation since 1913. The plant itself sat on a big piece of property off Black Creek Drive & Eglinton.

I grew up seeing it by night, on my way home from my aunt’s house in Vaughan… the KODAK sign shone all night and their oversized LED display blinked the current time and temperature. It always feels like something’s missing from that drive now that the area is dark.

The buildings are being demolished so last night Stephanie and I decided to finally see what Photography Drive is like. We turned off Black Creek, drove a short distance and came to this sight before the overpass that leads to the plant.

Click here to view the image larger at DoubleCrossed.ca.

299 Queen Street Begins a New Era?

admin — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:00:09 +0000

There’s a great little article on blogTO today about the history of 299 Queen Street West, now known as the home to CHUM Ltd in Toronto.

This is the headquarters for MuchMusic (Canada’s music station), CityTV (a popular local Toronto channel), as well as a long list of CHUM’s specialty channels. It’s a landmark here, always surrounded by tourists, celebrities, street parties and people with a bone to pick.

On the same day that I’d sat having a coffee across the street while watching work being done on Speakers Corner (the interactive corner booth just got a big facelift) I also received the news that the new owner, Rogers (a huge, bland, telecommunications giant with bad customer service) wants to clear them out of the building.

Now, while TV stations are hardly a cultural gem, this one had truly made a place for itself amidst its viewers. I can’t think of one other station that interacted with the viewership, on street-level, like this one did. It gave you the sense that you knew the people and the programs personally, unlike everything else on television which appears impersonal, produced in some far-away broadcast tower you’ll never see.

I spent my teenage years hanging out inside and outside of MuchMusic(i’ll admit it), always involved in some way and my university years studying broadcasting… so while I don’t really watch the network anymore, I understand its value to so many Canadians and, moreso, Torontonians. Will it be the same when broadcasting out of some generic studio somewhere else in the city? Who knows.

I think if Rogers thought this through without blinding themselves with the property tax tally, they’d see that simply rebranding the building with their logo would do a lot more for PR than this upcoming 299 Queen West exodus.

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Photo, thanks to Rick @ blogTO, from the Toronto Archives

St Lawrence Market in a Moment of Stillness

admin — Fri, 25 May 2007 03:43:10 +0000

Today’s rich sepia capture of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market was submitted by Nesha, who visits the area often.

St. Lawrence Market has been an intrinsic part of Toronto culture since the early 1800’s. A market is only one small part of its history though. This building and area has been everything from a market ground to a political centre, a meeting place and a war ground. Part of it even burned down in the Great Fire of 1849, only to be built up again right away.

Originally home to Toronto’s City Hall, it also became home to the the Toronto Police (one of the first organized Forces in North America) as Police Station #1 with a jail built right in. Perhaps handy as it would also soon become the setting of a number of riots.

From there it became a market as well as a civic art gallery to house the city’s fine art collection.

And today? From fresh veggies to dusty antiques, it’s a thriving marketplace and weekend retreat for many of us, including Nesha.

Flash Back - Kensington Market

admin — Tue, 22 May 2007 09:15:24 +0000

Today’s photo taken over the weekend in Toronto’s Kensington Market. One of Toronto’s most vibrant communities, Kensington is a historical wonderland in every way. From centurian townhomes to the retro chic thrift stores that inhabit so many of them, it’s always an interesting place to explore.

More on Kensington:
- blogTO Neighbourhood Watch feature: pt I | pt II
- Kensington on Wikipedia
- Kensington-Market.ca

View this photo larger at DoubleCrossed.ca

A Constructed Image of Toronto at Contact Photography Fest

admin — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:20:36 +0000

blogTO is a media sponsor of this year’s Contact Photography Festival and will also be curating the exhibit, A Constructed Image of Toronto featuring large scale photographs from all over this great city, as taken by the talented photobloggers and photographers of Toronto.

My recent capture of the El Mocambo will be featured in the show.

Opening night coincides with the Contact opening receception on Friday, May 4th at Brassaii (461 King St East).

Find out more about the exhibit and festival at www.blogto.com/contact2007.

Toronto Star, Convenience Store Sponsor c. 1978

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:24:38 +0000

Nowadays it’s all about Nestle and chocolate bars, but once upon a time it was Coca-Cola and the Toronto Star that were too happy to slap their logo up on the city’s corner stores.

This shop, in particular, has been closed for a few years it seems… not sure why or what is happening with it now. I pass by every six months or so and always re-scribble it down on my travelling list of places to photograph… knowing that chances are, if I don’t hustle, it might be gone.

Luckily, this past weekend, there it was.

And actually, now that we’re on the topic, I’ve shot a number of photographs of aging corner store signage this year, so I’ll probably share a few more over the coming weeks.

If you know of an interesting one in your neighbourhood, I’d love to hear about it.