Looking back now at the photos I spent my precious film on back then, so much comes back to me about dropped into a new environment. We use our creative tools as extensions of ourselves; they help us understand and define our place in the world. For me, having a camera in my hand at all times helped me remember, You only get to do this once. We have to take time and see it, as clearly as we can.
I will be posting more from the series: Toronto Gone over the coming months–photos taken in Toronto in the 1980s and 1990s. It may lead to a new book.
Nostalgia can be described as a sentimental longing for the past. It comes from the Greek nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain) and is thought to have been derived from Homer’s The Odyssey.
With baby boomers reaching their senior years, nostalgia seems to be their drug of choice. Advertisers target boomers with Beatles music, retro fashions, and even long dead actors such as Marilyn Munroe selling perfume. While boomers seem to be lapping it up, not everyone is crazy about the nostalgia bug. Heather Havrilesky writes in The Washington Post, “While griping about boomer nostalgia has become a somewhat common art, the cultural impact of that nostalgia transcends mere annoyance. Through sheer repetition and force of will, boomers have so thoroughly indoctrinated us into their worldview that we all now reflexively frame most current affairs through the lens of another generation’s formative experiences.” Abbey Hoffman might say not to trust anyone under 50!
I myself am a baby boomer. Born in 1958, I was six years old when the Beatles came to North America. I sang “A Hard Day’s Night” in my Grade One classroom, watched the moon landing on a fuzzy black and white TV, and took my Diana camera to Expo ’67 in Montreal. While I have nostalgia for those early years, the time I miss most was when I was in my early twenties, studying photography at Ryerson in Toronto.
The photos in this blog post capture the time that I am nostalgic for. They were taken in downtown Toronto in my early years of study. Everything was new and fresh, conversations were stimulating, photography was invigorating. Several of my classmates from that year became lifelong friends. Since returning to those days is impossible, I can make the journey with my retro photographs. It’s the next best thing.
I enjoyed capturing the Toronto streets in the 1980s. It was liberating to walk around with a camera and find that special moment when time and place come together. The time when the yellow van is stopped near the yellow hydrant, or when the boy is crossing Lake Devo on his BMX bike. The rhythm of the city was something I could feel, it was like listening to an urban symphony.
I was in my twenties then with few commitments or responsibilities. Life is much different now at 60, with a family, and living in rural Nova Scotia. I may never again have the opportunity to roam the Toronto streets with a camera like I did in the 1980s. It reminds me that life is short, and helps me remember, You only get to do this once. We have to take time and see it, as clearly as we can.
Photos in this post are from the book Toronto Days – available through Blurb Books and Amazon.
Taken from the rooftop of Sam the Record Man. For me, having a camera in my hand at all times helped me remember: You only get to do this once. We have to take the time to see it as clearly as we can.
from the book: No Money Down – Toronto (1980-1986)
https://goo.gl/Km6dB1
