Looking at Toronto through DDOI

Daily Dose of Imagery is one photographer's view of their "day to day visual experience." The photographer, Sam Javanrouh, posts one image a day.

The first thing I saw on the website was an image of a snowy King Street East. It made me forget (if just for a little bit), that, though cold, snow can also be quite beautiful. The image is of a tree with snow-covered branches, a lamp, and a snowbank in front of what looks like a parking lot -- but the photographer was able to find beauty in something so simple.

After looking at a few of the images, I noticed how simple they all are: a snowy street corner, a reflection in a skating rink, a tree, a building's fire escape. What makes these images stand out are the different perspectives and angles the photographer uses to look at the world. The images are unique because they are not the most obvious ones; these images make the viewer think.

There were a few images that I spent a longer time looking at because, although the caption told me where it was taken, I couldn't place the location. This made me realize that: 1) I don't spend enough time looking, and 2) I should try looking at things differently.

A lot of what makes this photographer's images dynamic has to do with his attention to detail. The above image shows a man sitting in a fire escape. Really, all the photographer did was look up and take a picture of some windows on a building on Spadina... but because of his attention to detail and use of angles and different perspectives, the image turned out unique.

I really liked this image of a tree in U of T's King's College for the reasons I stated above: it's simple, and it's something I wouldn't usual notice. The images on this website, though images of a "day to day visual experience," require the photographer to step out of what is happening around him and look at the bigger picture.

This collection of images shows that there's more to Toronto than meets the eye... there's more than one way to capture Toronto in images. Sometimes, it's necessary to look closer, and, perhaps, from a different angle, to see the story. It helps to take a second look to avoid missing details you didn't see the first time around -- especially in a city as colourful and diverse as Toronto.


All images from Daily Dose of Imagery