Parade in West Toronto Junction, 1983, featuring the Malta Band Club. The area still has a significant Maltese population.
Tag: <span>1983</span>
Reflections create another layer of reality in a photo. It can be like gazing into an alternate world, or listening to the layered sound in a Brian Eno recording.
When I was a boy I would walk around the house looking down into a mirror. The reflections of the ceiling created a whole new space to walk in. Several years later when I first picked up a camera, I was drawn once again to layered images found in mirrors, windows, and water.
This photo was taken in Kensington Market, Toronto, in 1983. I often associate photos with songs and this one brings to mind Reflections by Diana Ross and the Supremes. The way life used to be.
© Avard Woolaver
This photo was taken on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1983. Walking around New York City with a camera is something I’ve only done twice in my life. Both times were unique and memorable. There is so much happening on the streets, and so many interesting locations.
The mannequin is in the store window of B. Altman and Company, a luxury department store chain founded in 1865. By 1990, the business was closed. In 1985 this Fifth Avenue building became a New York City landmark. It is now occupied by City University of New York, New York Public Library, and Oxford University Press. The Altman Foundation carries on as one of the largest private philanthropies in New York.
From the series: New York City – Flickr album
Ryerson Campus, Toronto, 1983 © Avard Woolaver
Ryerson University is located in downtown Toronto near Yonge-Dundas Square–one of the city’s busiest intersections. As a photography student I was given various assignments and didn’t need to go far to find interesting subject matter. This photo was taken just steps from the Film and Photography Building; it can be seen in the far left of the image. For someone like me who grew up on a farm in rural Nova Scotia, Toronto was at first big and scary. But as time passed it became a wonderful, vibrant place bursting with photographic potential.
National Geographic photographer Sam Abell once said, “My best work is often almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it.” It’s common to feel this way when editing and evaluating photos. Sometimes I don’t edit a group of photos until months or years after I’ve taken them, and I may catch nuances or connections then that escaped me when I took them.
That is why it is important not to worry so much about getting the perfect picture—just concentrate on capturing moments and experiences. You’ll have plenty of time later to reflect on it.
And, paradoxically, so much of photography is what happens after the moment. A photo takes one one-hundredth of a second, but we have lots of time afterwards to study and make sense of the image. Some photographers used to keep unprocessed film for months or years so that they could view it later with fresh eyes and a new perspective.
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Photo tip: Go over past work from time to time. There may be some worthwhile images that you passed over at the time. Time and experience can give new perspectives.
“Marching Band, Toronto; 1983” was discovered recently on a contact sheet some thirty four years after it was taken. It is from the series: Toronto Days