The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is running until May 31, so we sent Richard Ryder, Eddie Stone and Nate Webster to check out the photographic magic.
Grounded – Richard Ryder
Now I want to make this perfectly clear. I am not a shrimper. I do not have a foot fetish, per se. But if we’re talking dancer’s feet…well. The arch of the foot. The strength in the toes. There aren’t enough words to describe the power and poetry of a dancer’s greatest tool. Thank God for Grounded. Aptly shown at the National Ballet School at 400 Jarvis Street, Grounded is a photographic love letter to those ten little piggies that help dancers float on air. Joel Benard chose to not only photograph the dancer’s naked feet, he took their portraits as well and hung them side by side. It’s makes for a haunting dichotomy of serenity and power in these paired pictures. Like a well used instrument, these feet have been used and abused. Every callous, bruise, cracked heel and dead toe nail (You know what I mean. That black toe nail everyone gets once and the only way to get rid of it is to let it grow out, only how do you let it grow out when you’re dancing on it every friggin day?! That one.) is juxtaposed to the face that shares the same body. It’s a startling comparison. The age and wear of the feet next to the youth and innocence of theses (almost) children’s faces. Except for Fransico. Go to this show, look at his pictures and tell me this man doesn’t have the most beautiful feet in the world! I almost question his ability as a dancer his feet are so nice. Dancer are hard on their feet. That’s the rule. The only difference between these artists and any professional athlete is that they don’t often get concussed. Don’t get me wrong, if a bitch step outta line, she get cut but there aren’t a lot of blows to the head in ballet. What was I talking about?
Grounded by Joel Benard is on display at the National Ballet School, 400 Jarvis St from May 4 – 29, M-F, 5-9pm
Colours, Lights, Places: A Journey In Photographs – Eddie Stone
“When I travel with a camera I’m not alone” –Dan Ambramovici
Travelling is one of my very favourite past times. Exploring unknown lands, hearing strange tongues and tasting foreign foods. Unfortunately, I don’t get to travel as much as I would like. Enter photographer Dan Ambramovici. I visited Dan and his Scotiabank Contact exhibit at a very popular neighbourhood coffee house called The El Almacen, at 1078 Queen St. W.
Ambramovici’s photos immediately sparked my travel imagination with his sometimes haunting and always vivid images taken in South America. Browsing through the café, the visitor is taken on an exotic journey through a far away and mystical landscape. From the shot of a ruined home in the forest, to the vast landscape shots of the countryside, Dan’s photos are nothing if not inspiring. Inspiring to the traveller in me. Inspiring to the people watcher in me. Inspiring to the nature lover in me.
From the soaring mountains to the broken down villages and the cracked earth, Dan’s photos make for a unique travel experience like I’ve never had.
Bravo Dan!
Colours, Lights, Places: A Journey In Photographs by Dan Abramovici is on display at El Almacen Yerba Mate Cafe and Gallery at 1078 Queen St. W until May 31.
Fall and Implosions – Nate Webster
Are you ready to jump?
On Wednesday, May 4, 2011 I attended Fall and Implosions at the Alliance Francaise de Toronto – Gallerie Pierre-Leon. The exhibit examines the tension between human actions and their surroundings by bringing together the work of two French photographers, Denis Darzacq and Mathieu Pernot. Each series–in its own way–suggests fragile relationships between humanity and the environment.
As I made my first lap around the gallery I was haunted by the images surrounding me. A disturbing photograph of a man falling. His body inches from the ground. Buildings collapsing. Rubble cascading to the ground. Complete and utter destruction. I believe in artistic freedom, but on this particular afternoon I needed to lifted up, not brought down.
As I made my second lap around the gallery I decided to look at each piece differently. I cocked my head to the right, left, upside down almost. I was determined to pull a different message from each piece. Now, instead of a man falling, my perspective showed a man jumping.
The way I chose to view Darzacq and Pernot’s work made me feel as light as a feather. I gazed at each piece the way I look at life. Any given situation might appear bad, but all it takes is a slight shift of perspective to see a completely new picture.
The next time you feel like you’re falling, turn it upside down. Now you’re jumping.
Yes, I’m ready to jump.
Fall and Implosions by Denis Darzacq and Mathieu Pernot at the Alliance Francaise de Toronto – Gallerie Pierre-Leon at 24 Spadina Road.
Raw Memory – Eddie Stone
Having left the heart of Toronto to live in the west end this past winter, it would be an understatement to say that I am thrilled to be living steps away from so many galleries. Not long ago I lived in a barren wasteland of culture; today I am surrounded by beauty.
I was able to get up close and personal to some of that beauty at Gallery 1313 on Queen Street West for the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.
Gallery 1313 is unassuming, tucked back from the street and easy to miss, that is, unless you know where you’re going.
The exhibit for Contact comprised of 2 groups of 15 artists showing their work at two different times.
The first group showed from April 27 – May 8 and comprised of Linda Briskin, Kye Marshall, L.E. Glazer, Peter Dewdney, Richard Lush, Christine Marshall-Smith, Chritian Badanjak, Randi Apple, Alex Coley, Deborah Kanfer, Nelly Akerman-Singer, Marvin Antonio, Kelly Lamorie, and Paulette Michayluk.
The second group shows from May 11 – May 22 and is comprised of Laura Horne, Tim Neesam, Paul Osadchuk, Thomas Hlavecek, Dennis Duncan, Anuta Skrypnychenko, Robin York, Keith Davidson, Wendy Jones, Jack Martin, Showwei Chu, Robert Teteruck, Roz Tepper, Robert Caspary, and Chris Blanchenot.
In the two installments, emerging and established photographers use both traditional and new media to explore how the mind perceives, translates and interprets the world through memory. The works range in style and subject matter, from the black and white nude lady stormtrooper by Chris Blanchenot to the run down theatre front by Robyn York. One of my personal favourites was the back of an anonymous man’s head surrounded by video cameras, very paparazzi, captured by photographer Robert Teteruck.
Photography helps humankind record events and solidify memory.
Real memory recalls experience; digital memory perceives and records.
In the space between lies Raw Memory.
