The Changing Face of Toronto
About the Exhibit
The Toronto Public Library is pleased to present The Changing Face of Toronto, a new exhibition that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people who lived and worked in 20th century Toronto. The exhibition assembles a vibrant mosaic of photographic portraits curated from the Toronto Public Library’s Special Collections.
Encounter people from all walks of life: bricklayers and bra designers, switchmen and shopkeepers, truck drivers, tellers and taxidermists. Each face tells a story. Assembled together, these portraits capture broad changes in fashion and technology, what Torontonians did for work, and how they spent their leisure time. The images also document changes in the styles and techniques of photography and photojournalism.
The exhibition is guest curated by former Toronto Star photo archivist Carol Elder and features photographs from the library’s Canadian Documentary Art Collection, which includes over a million photographs from the Toronto Star Photograph Archive.
The exhibition is part of the 2016 Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.
The 2016 TD Gallery season is generously sponsored by TD Bank Group.
About the Toronto Star Photograph Archive
The Toronto Star Photograph Archive represents a century of images published in Canada’s largest daily newspaper. It is a rich resource of documentary images which chronicle local, national, and world events from a Canadian perspective.
The archive of over one million images was donated to the Toronto Public Library in 2014. It represents the largest donation of its type in Canada. The entire archive is now housed at the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre on the 5th floor of the Toronto Reference Library.
Guided Tours
Every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Meet inside the TD Gallery.
To organize group tours or class visits, please contact: ndawkins@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Related Programming
Hog Town Stories
An illustrated talk with photographer Jeremy Korn about capturing images and stories of Torontonians.
Thursday, May 19, 7 p.m.
Hinton Learning Theatre, Toronto Reference Library
The Power of the Portrait: A Panel Discussion with Toronto Star Photographers
Steve Russell, Melissa Renwick, and Tony Bock discuss how to capture a compelling portrait. Moderated by Richard Lautens.
Thursday, June 23, 7 p.m.
Atrium, Toronto Reference Library