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
Show Biz was a student hangout when I was attending Ryerson–a place to unwind with friends and enjoy good food and beer. The super long curly fries were memorable, and it was the first place where tried escargot (very tasty!). There is a view of Edward Street out the window–location of Toronto landmark, The World’s Biggest Bookstore.
You’ll notice a stubby beer bottle in the foreground and a long neck bottle in the background. In the years 1982-1986 there was a transition from the stubby to the long neck. I miss the stubby, but it is available now from some craft brewers.
My friends Mark and Iris are sitting over by the window, likely talking about photography. I miss those days.
When I was a teenage boy in the mid-Seventies, living in rural Nova Scotia, I spent hours studying the album covers created by Hipgnosis, the London-based design group. This was before I grew interested in photography, but, as LPs like Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” or “Ummagumma” played on the turntable, I scrutinized the covers, trying to penetrate the mysteries of the evocative, layered visual compositions. My “Wish You Were Here” is an ongoing photographic project that’s been in the works for several years. I aim to capture images that have a sense of the surreal yet are readily seen in everyday life. Additionally, I try to capture the sense of whimsy and humour that I liked about those album covers. The images come about through observation, rather than with Photoshop or other manipulations. For me, that’s an important aspect of the project–there’s no manipulation of the image. Reflections, juxtaposition, and scale all come into play.
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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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