Walk two minutes north from my front door and you will reach Dupont Street. A relatively unremarkable Toronto thoroughfare, Dupont runs east to west for five kilometers between Avenue Road and Dundas Street. Situated just north of the street is an active Canadian Pacific Rail line that long ago marked Toronto’s city limits. Though it was once home to bustling industry, Dupont Street currently offers everything from building supplies to hip restaurants, from auto repair shops to art galleries. While such diversity is not uncommon in contemporary post-industrial urban spaces, the inevitability of rapid redevelopment in the near future raises a pressing question: What will be the result of this change?
For me, Dupont Street epitomizes the fact that our modern, urban landscape is always in flux. It became a geographic boundary within which I could explore the notion of place. Presented as a series of personal observations marking a specific moment in time, the photographs remain fluid, as does the subject itself. This series expresses the complexity of Dupont Street through intersecting narratives while simultaneously accentuating how photographs can guide and construct an understanding of place.
This series continues to evolve alongside the development of the street. Photographs were first exhibited in 2017 during the Doc Now festival and later during the 2019 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in a Featured Exhibition titled Further Along The Road.
Installation Views
Further Along The Road
Urbanspace Gallery, 401 Richmond Street, Toronto. May–August 2019
On Dupont
Art Square Gallery, 334 Dundas Street West, Toronto. June 2017
