O6 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL | SATURDAY,NOVEMBER2,2019
T
he great American pho-
tographer Walker Evans
once said, about his own
work, that he was “inter-
ested in what any present time
will look like as the past.”
This statement became the
starting point for my photogra-
phy project on the architectural
fabric of lower Yonge Street in
downtown Toronto.Documentary photography of
urban streetscapes dates from the
earliest years of the medium.
Most often, it has been commis-
sioned to illustrate redevelop-
ment projects involving archi-
tects, planners, politicians and
administrators. The architectural
historian Vincent Scully charac-
terized architecture as a conver-
sation between the generations,
carried out across time. Street-
scape photography shows how
buildings at different stages in
their lives appear together at a
precise moment in a city’s devel-
opment. I find that black-and-
white photography serves the
purpose better than colour.Reflectionsonastreetscape
ForphotographerPeterMacCallum,Toronto’sYongeStreetisa
subjectbothcompellingandoppressive.Ashetrainshiseyeon
thechimericnewtowersthatappeartocontinuallyencroach
ontheoriginalarchitectureofthestreet,hestrugglestomake
visualsenseofwhatshouldbetheheartofthecity
OPINIONPeterMacCallum is a self-taught
architectural photographer.
Since 2000, he has undertaken
projects on streetscapes in
Toronto,Montreal and Paris.POINTOFVIEW