film photography Archives - Page 7 of 12

Published June 13, 2019 by avardw

Nostalgia and Baby Boomers

Yonge Street, Toronto, 1980 – © Avard Woolaver

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.

The Junction, Toronto, 1982 – © Avard Woolaver

Eaton Centre, Toronto, 1983 – © Avard Woolaver

Bond Street, Toronto, 1981 – © Avard Woolaver

Yonge and College, Toronto, 1983 – © Avard Woolaver

Keele and St. Clair, Toronto, 1982 – © Avard Woolaver

The Flyer, Exhibition Park, Toronto, 1982 – © Avard Woolaver

Black and White Photography Toronto

1980s baby boomers film photography nostalgia street photography Toronto Toronto in the 1980s

Published March 21, 2019 by avardw

Forty years ago in 1979

Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, 1979 – © Avard Woolaver

My life was quite different forty years ago in 1979. I remember some of that time, but a lot is forgotten. But photographs have a way of bringing the past into sharp focus in a way that almost nothing else can. A moment in 1979, frozen in time.

In 1979, I was in my second year at Acadia University living in residence at Chipman House. I had bought my first guitar–a used Marlin for $25. (This guitar is a Korean knockoff of the legendary Martin guitar–I still play that guitar to this day.) Although I spent some time on my studies, my real passion was taking photographs. Doing assignments for the school paper The Athenaeum was good training and taught me a lot about getting the shot even under difficult conditions. It also taught me the importance of meeting deadlines. We would often be working frantically in the darkroom right up until the last minute before putting the paper to bed.

In the summer of 1979, I got a job working on a railway gang in Wainwright, Alberta. How I got that job, and ended up there is a long and winding story. It was a summer of physical labour, working in the sun doing track maintenance–a good job for a twenty year old. With my photographs, I tried then as I do now, to capture a mood, or a feeling. I didn’t know much back then, but I could recognize good light and at times could capture a moment. It’s what Henri Cartier-Bresson called “a joint operation of the brain, the eye and the heart.”

Railway gang bunk cars, Wainwright, Alberta, 1979 – © Avard Woolaver

100A Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta, 1979 – © Avard Woolaver

Viking, Alberta, 1979 – © Avard Woolaver

Wainwright, Alberta, 1979 – © Avard Woolaver

Black and White Blogging Photography

1979 Alberta film photography photography

Published March 14, 2019 by avardw

Nagoya, Japan in 1987

Kanayama Station, Nagoya, Japan, 1987 – © Avard Woolaver

I arrived in Nagoya, Japan in January 1987–met at the station by Mike and Richard, my friends from Ryerson. Mike had said in a voice tape sent to me in Toronto, that living in Japan was like “putting your brain in a tin can and launching it into space.” And he was right. I had studied some Japanese at U of T, but nothing could have prepared me for life in Japan. Everything was so different.

The culture shock wore off as the months passed. I learned the language, got accustomed to teaching English and learned how to get around. Perhaps the most rewarding thing was a chance encounter with some locals that lead to a life-long friendship. From them I learned that people are basically the same everywhere.

And I continued to take photos with my Rollei 35. These photos were taken in the first few months when everything seemed fresh and new. I wish I had taken more, but living and working in Nagoya was so all-consuming that there wasn’t much room left for creative endeavors.

I look back on my six years in Nagoya, Japan with great fondness. The experience had such a great impact on my life. I plan to go back there next year with my family. I can hardly wait.

Blogging Japan Photography Travel

1987 film photography Japan Nagoya

Published March 10, 2019 by avardw

Toronto’s High Park in the 1980s

Grenadier Pond, High Park, Toronto, 1983, — Grenadier Pond, High Park, Toronto, 1983 – © Avard Woolaver

During my twenty years living in Toronto, I twice had an apartment near High Park. For a guy like me who grew up on a farm in Nova Scotia, the park was like an oasis–a refuge from the traffic and concrete of the city.

The area of the park is 400 acres, about a third of which is oak savannah – lightly forested grassland where oaks are the dominant trees. The photo below shows the savannah area in the fall.

I enjoyed High Park year round–jogging, cycling, skating, cross country skiing, baseball practice. And often I would carry a camera and take some photos. It was always fun to check out the animals at the little zoo, of have a meal at the Grenadier Restaurant. Some of my best memories were of watching plays in the summer. A highlight was John Gray’s Rock and Roll featuring the incomparable Frank MacKay. (MacKay died this past week–a much loved singer and actor in Nova Scotia.)

Here are a few photos of my wanderings in High Park in the 1980s.

High Park, Toronto, 1983, — High Park, Toronto, 1983 – © Avard Woolaver

High Park, Toronto, 1984, — High Park, Toronto, 1984 – © Avard Woolaver

High Park, Toronto, 1985, — High Park, Toronto, 1985 – © Avard Woolaver

High Park, Toronto, 1981 – © Avard Woolaver

High Park, Toronto, 1982, — High Park, Toronto, 1982 – © Avard Woolaver

Blogging Photography Toronto

film photography High Park photography Toronto

Published February 21, 2019 by avardw

Passing through Nathan Phillips Square

Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, 1981, — Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, 1981 – © Avard Woolaver

Nathan Phillips Square is a large city square in downtown Toronto (12 acres) that is the home of Toronto City Hall. It is a place of numerous activities–skating rink, farmers’market, concerts, demonstrations. There is often lots going on here, but at other times it is eerily empty.

It is a place that I rarely went to for an event; I was usually just passing through. So my photos are usually just little glimpses of what was happening there. Looking back at my contact sheets from the 1980s it seems that I passed through Nathan Phillips Square a few times a year. It was a good place for photos–lots of open space, interesting architectural details, plenty of concrete, and human activity.

These photos were just random moments at the time, but mean a lot more to me now as I rediscover the past life of my 20s. It reminds me that life is short and we must Carpe diem— “sieze the day.” 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.