Say cheese, Toronto

Clicking through the photos on the Daily Dose of Imagery website, I tried to observe these images in the shoes of someone who has never been to Toronto. I wanted to see what I could objectively conclude simply based on this collection of random, often seemingly pointless, screen captures of the city. What I found was that even the most common photos spoke of something significant and unique about Toronto, whether taken from an unusual angle or just your average point-and-shoot style. I was amazed at how different various places looked to me even though I had been to them many times before. It was as if they came alive within the frame.

The majority of pictures consist of people scurrying about in the streets or waiting for the subway ("Eastbound" and "Subway Walker"). There were also many images of crowded streets or of buildings stretching to the sky from various angles ("Canada Life on Ice"). I decided that this must be a place whose heart lies in three main functions: travel, business, and communication. All of these are fueled by an unstoppable energy that continues to grow every day.

It is also an energy that clearly cannot be held back by a little snowfall as Torontonians are known for welcoming winter. This theme is dominant in many of these photos that display the city’s elements mingling with the traditional winter scene. The photos of the newspaper boxes on King street east ("Sun Under Snow") and the bike on Gould Street ("Bike in White") both buried underneath heavy layers of snow but still peeking out told me that life goes on in the city and it won’t slow down under any circumstances.

The winter scene in general is something that will forever illustrate beauty unlike any other because of its ability to transform the ordinary into spectacular visuals. When I lived on residence at Pitman Hall in my first year at Ryerson, I remember going downstairs with my camera one night and just snapping away. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the snow made everything look and I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture it. Despite many comfortably warm days behind me, I never once considered taking photos of the outside of the building and its surroundings until that night.

On the website, the photo of the intersection at King and Sherbourne ("Snowy King") particularly caught my eye because a picture of an intersection can be so common and dull but wrap it in a thick blanket of snow and suddenly, it evolves. The tracks in the snow tell you how busy the streets are populated with thousands of cars every minute of every day. The buildings that you walk past every day but ignore become bewitched with an air of history and culture. The image as whole becomes enriched with a hint of peaceful sadness and tranquility to the point where it’s almost majestic.


Shots taken during this kind of weather and also at night are useful for conveying the notion of space and possibility. The empty streets clearly demonstrate the grandness of the city, as if naked and open to explore. You forget the people and truly breathe in the environment. A shot that also echoed this perspective to me is the photo looking south on Yonge Street at Dundas ("Yellow Line Under Snow"), which actually appears to have the road, with fresh tires marks visible, in the foreground while the people are miniscule and barely noticeable in the background.

Photographs of any city have the power to put it in very specific and cut and dried terms. This is how I was able to see Toronto in black and white – literally.