Contact: Toronto Photography Festival, May 1st-31st, 2007
As the weather brightens and more people take to the streets, pedestrians will discover a unique array of photography exhibitions scattered throughout public spaces around the GTA. Contact is Toronto’s photography festival, which runs for the entire month of May, featuring both local and international artists. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘the constructed image,’ exploring the movement of photography as a medium from an objective eye capturing reality to carefully constructed images more akin to other art forms. What I find most compelling about this exhibition is the fact that many of the installments occupy conventional public spaces in highly unconventional ways. For example, Erwit Wupm’s exhibit, "Outdoor Sculptures," can be found in St. Patrick’s subway station, presiding where tiresome advertisements are typically the only scenery a commuter can view. The famous Douglas Coupland (author of Generation X) will have his artwork featured in the transit shelters along Queen St. W. Other artist’s works will be presiding over parking lots and courtyards, concert venues and bars. The unexpected public appearance of photography installations most often found only in private galleries, makes the festival a wonderful exploration of how the urban landscape and art can complement each other. See the website below for a full list of the exhibitions throughout the city.
What: Contact, the Toronto Photography Festival
When: May 1st-31st, 2007
Where: throughout the GTA
Website: www.contactphoto.com
