{"id":46392,"date":"2021-01-23T18:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T23:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=46392"},"modified":"2021-01-23T18:21:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T23:21:53","slug":"portraits-in-covid-times-at-the-harbourfront-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=46392","title":{"rendered":"Portraits in COVID Times at the Harbourfront Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I saw Portraits in COVID Times: Documenting a Nation in Change<\/em> at the Harbourfront Centre on an eerily quiet afternoon in downtown Toronto. Yet, the empty streets\u2014more barren than usual\u2014only heightened my awareness of the impact of COVID-19. Portraits in COVID Times <\/em>features fifty-nine large-scale photographs spread between two sites on Queens Quay West, a fraction of the over 5,000 submissions from \u201ccitizen photographers and professionals alike.\u201d This exhibition was organized by the team behind Canada COVID Portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Street view of Portraits in COVID Times: Documenting a Nation in Change <\/em>at the Harbourfront Centre by Brian Medina. Photo: Olivia Mariko Hsuen-Ferris<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photographs date from March to October 2020, documenting the physical and emotional changes in the lives of people from across Canada. The black and white images on the Harbourfront Centre fa\u00e7ade are presented on windows outlined in white rims, creating a frame-like effect. On the grey afternoon I visited the Harbourfront Centre, these black and white images against a charcoal-coloured building gave the illusion of being inside a world of black and white. The choice to exhibit these thirty images in black and white was an effective one, capturing a sense of historic monumentality despite the intensely contemporary nature of the content. These COVID portraits masquerade as archival documents by capturing the sensibility of famous photographs of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gage\nFletcher for Trillium Health Partners (Mississauga, ON)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bizarre yet familiar photographs feel\ncomfortable in their recognizability: a masked girl in a bodysuit jet\u00e9s\noutdoors, a couple bangs pots on their doorstep, a health-care worker stands\nheroically in PPE. From the dynamic gravity of a Black Lives Matter vigil to\nthe chaotic delight of using a kiddie pool in the living room, these images capture\nthe large and small changes to our lives in 2020. One of my favourites is the\nhumorous oddity of Allan Yong sitting alone on an empty plane, the only\npassenger on a flight from Toronto to Ottawa. A once-in-a-lifetime trip, Yong\nflies in a 58-seat jet normally reserved for the likes of the Toronto Raptors\nor the Toronto Maple Leafs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Allan\nYong (Ottawa, ON)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most emotionally cutting images is by Sharon Robertson in Vancouver BC. This photograph captures the small joy of a visit between an elderly couple and their family. The family looks with mixed happiness through a window from the outside, while inside, an elderly woman grins on the phone and an elderly man gazes wistfully out of frame. This scene is bittersweet in itself but the caption is heart wrenching: \u201cThe couple passed away five hours apart on April 6 after being diagnosed with COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sharon\nRobertson (Vancouver, BC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the exhibition is located a few blocks west, lining the sidewalk at Queens Quay W and Rees St. Here the rest of the photos are in colour against a black backdrop, lined one by one along a temporary wall. Each image has a caption below it and the action of stopping to read each one recalls the ritualistic viewing of art works in a gallery many of us haven\u2019t practiced for a year. Pieces of the exhibition are tearing off and flap gently in the wind\u2014an accidental consequence of a Toronto winter no doubt\u2014serving as an unintended reminder that this isn\u2019t mounted inside a gallery because it can\u2019t be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second site of Portraits in Covid Times <\/em>at 318 Queens Quay W. Photo: Olivia Mariko Hsuen-Ferris <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reverend John Pentland in Calgary, Alberta stands in front of pews with photos of community members on March 22, 2020 by Leah Hennel (Calgary, AB). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The colour photography of the second site heightened my contemporaneous awareness, but the range of joy and gravity in the subject matter remains. Tara Barnes\u2019 image of \u201cSarain Fox in resistance on unceded Algonquin territory, Golden Lake on May 5\u201d truly belongs at the second site in its effective use of colour to convey the message. This image next to Darren Calabrese\u2019s image of protestors at a June 3 march against anti-Black racism and police brutality in Halifax, Nova Scotia serve as potent reminders of what was done and all that is to come in racial justice work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarain Fox portrayed by Tara Barnes (Toronto, ON)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Protestors at a June 3 march against anti-Black racism by Darren Calabrese (Halifax, NS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Neuhaus\u2019 May 3 portrait of a fox near CityPlace in downtown Toronto stands out due to both the brilliant red fur and the message captioned below it: \u201c…I am already feeling nostalgia for that brief moment in the history of our city when the animals ruled the streets.\u201d With the fear and uncertainty of the early pandemic, the small joys were brighter by contrast. Portraits in COVID Times <\/em>itself evokes a sort of nostalgia for 2020, in spite of the collective pain the world suffered. The euphoria of seeing animals run about or of hearing the loving cheers of an unknown neighbour is one of those feelings singular to lockdown and accessible now only by memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daniel Neuhaus (Toronto, ON)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portraits in COVID Times<\/em> is a perfect time capsule, ready to be buried and discovered by the later generations who will marvel at our unfathomable world. This exhibition, and the photos on the Canada COVID Portrait website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>, capture exactly what it felt like to be a Canadian during this time. The unbelievable grief, hope, frustration, humour, triumph, and loneliness; it\u2019s all there along Queens Quay. These photos capture our national truths, and for that reason we will look at them years from now, with tears in our eyes and goosebumps all over, and we will remember all we lost and gained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Mariko Hsuen-Ferris<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: November 9, 2020 – May 1, 2021, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto. Rees Street Parking Lot, 318 Queens Quay West, Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image: Patrons at the Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant in Calgary, Alberta enjoy a Covid-safe dining experience in pop-up garden globes on August 5, 2020, captured by Leah Hennel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images are courtesy of Canada COVID Portraits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More photographs from Canada COVID Portrait can be viewed on their Instagram (@canadacovidportrait<\/a>) and website (canadacovidportrait.ca<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Olivia Mariko Hsuen-Ferris<\/strong>
\n
These photos capture our national truths, and for that reason we will look at them years from now, with tears in our eyes and goosebumps all over, and we will remember all we lost and gained.<\/p>\n

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