Lake Ontario

Robert Burley

Lake Ontario / Lake Huron

Lake Ontario, Toronto #6

Lake Ontario, Toronto #6
2007
Chromogenic print
60.9 x 76.2 cm
Government of Ontario Art Collection

Lake Huron, Craigleith #2

Lake Huron, Craigleith #2
2002
Chromogenic print
60.9 x 76.2 cm
Government of Ontario Art Collection

The shorelines of the Great Lakes vary from landscapes of remote natural wilderness to the man made edges of some of the world’s largest cities. I grew up on a rural land mass that juts out into Lake Ontario, have lived in the cities of Toronto and Chicago and vacationed on the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. Throughout this time, the calming view of the lake’s horizon has been a constant in my life. My photographs explore the vistas of the Great Lakes using a large format camera and long exposures in the light of early dawn. Whether it is from the rock face of the Canadian Shield on the north shore of Superior or a recently created landfill on the shores of Lake Ontario, my images examine the places where land, water and sky meet. In all instances the resulting photographs are natural sites dominated by the deep open space created by sky and water.

Kim Dorland

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls
2014
Oil and acrylic on linen over wood panel
121.9 x 152.4 cm
On loan from Morris Berchard

A lot of my work is about observation. I am drawn to imagery that conveys a psychology of identity. In Canada, somehow, this often ends up including water. I grew up in the West, so my first experience of the Great Lakes didn’t happen until I was an adult—though, like any good Canadian, I was well aware of their mythology. My first point of contact was Lake Superior. I can remember driving along the water’s edge for hours, blown away—and a little freaked out—by the sheer size and the power of all that water. The same happened on my first visit to Niagara Falls. The water in this country has its own personality, which is probably why so many of us have been drawn to capturing it in art.

Wanda Koop

St Lawrence Seaway

Anne-Marie Lives on that Island: Seeway Series

Anne-Marie Lives on that Island: Seeway Series
2014
Acrylic on canvas
76.2 x 101.6 cm
On loan from the artist, courtesy of Division Gallery

In June 2010, I boarded the Canadian Steamship Line ocean freighter Birchglen, along with Captain Bob Willkie, cinematographer Marcia Connolly, and filmmaker Katherine Knight. This was the beginning of a journey down the St Lawrence Seaway, which I recorded in SEEWAY, a series of luminescent waterscapes drawn from past memories and jotted sketches. With intentional anonymity in content, Anne-Marie Lives on that Island demonstrates the ability to reference a possibility of multiple locations, thus allowing viewers to relate under various circumstances. Here, vague islands in numerous washes of blue reflect on both the mood and weather in time, while there remains a continuous interruption of drips in condensation through my window viewpoint. The outcome of this voyage is extremely gratifying as I continue to periodically include new works to the series.

Meryl McMaster

Lake Ontario

Viage, Lake Ontario

Viage, Lake Ontario
2010
Chromogenic print
60.9 x 60.9 cm
On loan from the private collection of John and Marie Cook

Wingeds Calling: Variation II

Wingeds Calling: Variation II
2010
Chromogenic print
60.9 x 91.4 cm
On loan from the artist, courtesy of Katzman Contemporary

In-Between Worlds was born out of my contemplation of self-discovery and is rooted in personal, reflective experiences that have helped me to form my sense of self. This series starts to explore some of the challenging feelings I have experienced related to my bi-cultural heritage (Plains Cree/British and Dutch), which I sometimes view as a synergistic strength while at other times as a struggle between opposites. I inserted my own body into visual spaces that reflected both the inspiration I felt from my time alone in nature, as well as the concept of being “betwixt”. As I progressed, I began to incorporate sculptures that took on the form of talismans, further suggesting a collage of my heritages and identities. Following the struggle of seclusion on my outdoor excursions, I began to feel a sense of empowerment through experiencing a change in how I see the world. The photographs are an embodiment of this transformation.

Laura Pedersen

Lake Ontario

The Leuty Project
2013–2014
Digital images / blog
On loan from the artist

When I first moved to Toronto from Alberta, I was slightly overwhelmed by the fast pace of life in the big city. I found it easy to lose myself in the bustle of daily life. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with The Beaches neighbourhood, where I would constantly head to Lake Ontario to gather my thoughts. I grew attached to the Leuty Lifeguard Station, which I quickly realized was a symbol of the neighbourhood. The building has been photographed countless times but as a news photojournalist by trade I wanted to capture a glimpse of the people in the ever-changing environment around it. This project was my way of capturing a year in the life of this famous structure.

Day 147

Day 147

Mark Schacter

Lake Ontario

Waterfront

Waterfront
2012
Chromogenic print
54.5 x 81.2 cm
On loan from the artist

Steelmill

Steelmill
2012
Chromogenic print
48 x 81.2 cm
On loan from the artist

The Great Lakes are both familiar and strange to me. Familiar because I was born and spent my first 16 years in Thunder Bay, at the western edge of the greatest of the Lakes—Lake Superior. My bedroom windows overlooked the port, which at the time was one of the world’s busiest grain handling facilities. But the Lakes are strangers to me too. You can live near the Lakes, watch them, admire them, but still feel their remoteness. If you see the Lakes in the right place at the right time, they give a magical (though false) impression of being pristine and unchangeable. They have a magnificence that continues to defy human carelessness and exploitation. Therein lies the greatness of the Great Lakes, and the source of my enduring fascination with them.