After completing Circa: An Urban Retrospect in January 2007, I wanted to create an additional space to continue the narrative begun with Circa. As a result, UrbanRetrospect.com was born.

In the modern city, there are so many timeless streets, buildings, businesses, citizens and scenes that reveal themselves each day for those who might stop to notice. Ironically, the very nature of that same modern city leaves us so preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of city life that we fail to see the living history of our city… and it slowly disappears around us, bit by bit.

Within the pages of Circa, I try to share a very local and personal history of Toronto, Canada, through a set of recently captured black & white photographs. The photos are presented in the form of an old journal, secretly kept by a mostly anonymous photographer.

The images included in the book appear dated between c. 1928 and 1985. These nostalgic photos play with our sense of time, leading us to believe, at first glance, that they are faded relics of a city long since gone - not snapshots of a modern city that is simply rich with history.

While the book may be complete now, the stories it tells continue on in many different voices. Through UrbanRetrospect.com I am creating a space in which I hope these stories can heard.

Over the coming months you can expect to see more photos, short fictions, true accounts, and other content that reveals and gives a voice to the stories of this city.

Furthermore, reader contributions(both from Toronto and abroad) are welcome and will be featured regularly so that Urban Retrospect can truly reflect the community it represents.

-t