Limited Edition Series: 20

In 2009, a group of photographers partnered with Heritage Toronto to document – in an artistic way – some of Toronto’s historic but often-forgotten architectural gems. The end result was a week-long exhibit at the Gladstone Hotel during Heritage Week in February entitled Building Storeys: A Photographic Exhibit of Toronto’s Aging Spaces. It was supported by a series of articles on spacing.ca – one per week in January leading up to the show – showcasing some of the more interesting locations. At the time, we wanted it to be a good show – a great show really – but never expected it to garner the attention and press that it did.

In two days, we will be opening our second installment of Building Storeys – this year subtitled A Photographic Exhibit of Toronto’s Industrial Past. It’s been quite a learning experience and we’ve streamlined some of the coordination of the show – thanks in a huge way to the addition of Toni Wallachy‘s project management skills. With this being an industrial-themed show, we’ve also added two great industrial photographers to the project – Sean Galbraith and Mathew Merrett of the DK Photo Group. You may know them from their show on Bravo! Canada – PhotoXplorers. The group is rounded out by members of the Shadow Collective – Timothy Neesam (an excellent UE photographer), Rick Harris (another great UE photographer all the way from Whitby), Robert Dyke (a long-time industrial and UE photog) and myself. And of course, there were the tireless staff of Heritage Toronto – Rebecca Carson who tirelessly managed the project, Kim Adlard who approached sponsorship and contracts like a tiger, Peggy Mooney who helped us get into these locations, and Gary Miedema the font of all historical knowledge.

The locations we were able to shoot this year were phenomenal and each provided us with different stories of Toronto’s industrial past: RC Harris, the Wellington Destructor, Ashbridges Bay Water Treatment Plant, Canada Linseed, Toronto Island Water Plant, and many others.

Come and read the history of Toronto’s industrial growth and see the photographic interpretations of a dozen truly interesting locations by 7 great photographers at Building Storeys 2010: A Photographic Exhibit of Toronto’s Industrial Past. It’s on at the Gladstone Hotel, Queen W & Gladstone, February 4-27, noon-5pm daily. Please check the News page to see exhibit updates.

Additional information about the show and the artists can be found at www.buildingstoreys.com

Additional photos from my photo shoots at the 12 locations can be found on my Flickr site.