Month: <span>July 2018</span>

Published July 26, 2018 by

Allie Bennett, Acadia University, 1977

Avard Woolaver, Allie Bennett, Nova Scotia, singer, musician, 1977, Acadia University,

I first met Allie Bennett in the fall of 1977, outside the Student Union Building at Acadia University. He was playing some folk tunes to a small crowd of people. I wondered why there weren’t more people listening; he was really good–a Cape Bretoner with that magic musical touch.

Fast forward to 1982. I was upstairs at Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street looking at blues albums, and there stood Allie Bennett. He was on tour with John Allan Cameron playing bass guitar; really starting to make it in the music business. We  talked a bit about music and our days at Acadia.

Fast forward to 2009. I was at Stanfest in Canso, Nova Scotia. There were lots of amazing performers there that year–Don Maclean, Sarah Harmer, Matt Anderson, Lennie Gallant, Amelia Curran. I was backstage and ran into Allie.  He  was playing bass and fiddle for Bruce Guthro. It was great to catch up after all those years. He has had a long and prolific career as a performer, studio musician with artists such as Rita MacNeil, Stan Rogers, Murray McLauchlan, the Rankin Family, the Barra MacNeils, Mary Jane Lamond, Natalie MacMaster, Ron Hynes,  Dave Gunning, and Ashley MacIsaac. Talent, dedication and the right choices will take you far.

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Documentary Photography

1977 Acadia University Allie Bennett Avard Woolaver colour film photography musician singer

Published July 19, 2018 by

Yonge and Edward, Toronto, 1981

Avard Woolaver, Toronto, Toronto in the 1980s, 1981, Yonge and Edward, documentary photography,

Photos like this contain a lot of information, and I’m glad now I paused a few seconds to take it. The smokestack is the Walton Street steam plant, built in 1971. The Orange Crush sign was a fixture there for a few years. I liked it because it displayed the time and temperature, and also because it seemed to be crushing the building below. I don’t think I was ever in the Health Foods store, Kelly’s Stereo Mart, or Times Square Billiards. But I was often at the World’s Biggest Bookstore, which operated from 1980-2014. I went there many times. It was the kind of place that you never visited for just five minutes. There were so many interesting books, and the prices were good, too. They liked to play up their no frills image with slogans like, “Books priced so low even people who don’t read too good is buying them.” I remember buying Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums there around this time. It was a hot summer afternoon and I walked across the sizzling pavement with the book (and camera) in my hand.

From the series: Toronto in the 1980s

 

Film Photography Photography Toronto

1981 analog photography Avard Woolaver documentary film photography Toronto Toronto in the 1980s Yonge Street

Published July 18, 2018 by

Yonge and Dundas, Toronto, 1983

Toronto in the 1980s, Toronto, street photography, Yonge and Dundas, film photography,

The photo was taken twenty years before this area of Toronto was transformed into Yonge-Dundas Square. It was always a happening place–ideal for the type of photography I was into, and just steps away from Ryerson. I like the figure up on the scaffolding–a man doing his work, but taking a few minutes to survey the scene. I wish I could have been up there with him, where, in the words of Gord Downie, “we get to feel small from high up above.”

From the series: Toronto in the 1980s

Black and White Film Photography Photography

Avard Woolaver Toronto in the 1980s

Published July 14, 2018 by

Sam the Record Man, Yonge Street, Toronto, 1981

Sam the Record Man, records, Toronto in the 1980s, Toronto, 1981, Avard Woolaver,

In my Ryerson days in the 1980s, I spent a lot of time in Sam the Record Man, as well as other record stores on the Yonge Street strip–A&A, Peter Dunn’s Vinyl Museum, Records on Wheels. Information about artists and recordings was not so easy to come by in those days and a lot of it came from reading liner notes. A lot of pleasurable browsing was involved before parting with five dollars. And, of course, I couldn’t wait to put it on my Dual turntable, through the Akai amp and Bose speakers. It was a kind of magic that wasn’t instantaneous (like today). It took a few hours and was well worth it–as I sat back afterwards and listened to The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty.

From the Flickr album: Toronto in the 1980s

Photography

1981 Avard Woolaver documentary photography Toronto in the 1980s

Published July 11, 2018 by

Dundas and Victoria, Toronto, 1983

Avard Woolaver, Toronto, Toronto Flashback (1980-1986), Yonge-Dundas Square, photography,

In 2003 this space became Yonge-Dundas Square – an effort by the city to create a version of New York’s Times Square. But twenty yeas earlier, when this photo was taken, it was a parking lot. There was a lot more open space in the city back then. also fewer cars, and fewer people. I was on my way to classes at Ryerson and climbed a fire escape to get this image. These days it would require a drone, or a cherry picker.

From the book: Toronto Flashback (1980-1986) – available through Blurb Books, and Amazon.

 

Colour New Topographics Photography

Avard Woolaver documentary film photography Toronto Toronto Flashback (1980-1986) Yonge-Dundas Square