These photos show things that have departed from Toronto’s social landscape since the 1980s. That Toronto is gone. Or at least parts of it. Buildings, businesses, parking lots, and people that used to be a part of the city in the 1980s have disappeared, and been replaced by others. It’s part of the inevitable cycle of death and rebirth, of disappearance and reappearance. There is no way to know exactly what aspects of a place will change. So in some sense my 1980s Toronto photos are accidental. Their significance now is something I never could have foreseen.
In the above photo the skyline looks relatively sparse. This photo, along with many others I took in the 1980s, shows the disappearance of empty space. The Royal York Hotel is barely visible today, the view crowded out by numerous high rises. The photo below shows a large parking area in the downtown core–another example of once empty space that has been filled in. While some mourn the loss of departed empty space, others, like city planners, welcome it. The condo boom has allowed more people to live in the downtown core, who might otherwise have had to live in the suburbs or in another city.
In the other photos, Jerry’s Camera, Route 66, and Rok’s Milk have all disappeared along with old men in dapper hats, and “Red Rocket” streetcars. I think there are still dinosaurs in Budapest Park (Sir Casmir Gzowski Playground) but the view with the lone high rise is more crowded with numerous towers.
The series “Toronto Gone” puts a focus on things that have disappeared–buildings, businesses, parking lots, cars, people that used to be a part of the city in the 1980s and 1990s prior to the condo boom, and before the widespread use of computers and cell phones.
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