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Toronto in the 1980s

by Avard Woolaver

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About the Book
"Toronto in the 1980s" documents the city of Toronto in the 1980s. Woolaver grew up in rural Nova Scotia and moved to Toronto in 1980 to study photography at Ryerson (now TMU). Inspired by Lee Friedlander and Robert Frank he walked around Toronto with his camera, capturing street scenes with fresh eyes. The photos in this book represent what Woolaver feels are the best of his Toronto work. Most of these photos are now in a permanent digital collection at the City of Toronto Archives.

From the introduction, "I had no way to anticipate how significant these Toronto photos would seem to me 40 years later. They show things that no longer exist, even though it hasn’t been that long. Without necessarily trying to, I caught images of buildings, cars, fashions, gadgets that are no longer part of our world. Toronto’s entire skyline is utterly changed, part of the inevitable growth and evolution."
Author website
https://avardwoolaver.com
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About the Creator
Avard
Avard Woolaver
Nova Scotia, Canada

I do social landscape photography and am interested in New Topographics---the human altered landscape--recording how human behavior and activity has affected the world. I also look for whimsical scenes, and elements of surrealism found in everyday life. My work is firmly planted in the documentary tradition, getting photos through observation rather than through set-up and image manipulation. In my younger days, I studied photography at Ryerson (now TMU) in Toronto and did freelance jobs, and street photography. My rural upbringing allowed me to see the city with fresh eyes. Blurb books: "Toronto Flashback (1980-1986)," "No Money Down – Toronto (1980-1986)", "Toronto Days", "Toronto In Colour: the 1980s", and "Toronto in the 1980s" which was released in April, 2025. Also: "Wish You Were Here" (2018), "Colourville" (2019), "Found Fields" (2023), and "Colour Dreams" (2025). The City of Toronto Archives has a collection of 1150 of my photos (digital images).

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