Lake Superior
Leaving the Soo: Trading Places
2013
Chromogenic print
45.7 x 81.3 cm
On loan from the artist
Stuck in Whitefish Bay: Trading Places
2013
Chromogenic print
45.7 x 81.3 cm
On loan from the artist
I am a fine art photographer and avid racing sailor living in a housing co-operative for artists on Toronto’s central waterfront. When I first moved here, the malting factory framing one side of the park that I look out onto was still in use. I loved the distant sound of the compressors, and the sweet/sour malty smell that drifted through my open windows on a hot summer’s night. Now long disused, and considered an eyesore by many, Canada Malting and the Victory Soya Mills at the far end of the harbour remain as noble bookends. Statuesque reminders that the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway are our natural transportation infrastructure. Shipping is celebrated in song and story yet forgotten by most urbanites as relentless gentrification pushes heavy industry from its place in the landscape.