Here are a couple photos I took because I wanted to capture a general feeling, only to discover well after the fact that I’d captured something else in the photo that completely undermined the feeling I was after.
The first is a section of windows on the Manulife Headquarters which front on Bloor Street. I was trying to produce an abstract pattern.
It’s an interesting shot. But when I looked more closely, I discovered this:
One of the panes is broken. Forgive the double entendre, but it uh shatters the abstractness of the pattern. I suppose I could retouch it in photoshop, but in a way it’s more interesting with the imperfection.
I’m not sure I feel the same way about the next photo. I was drawn to the feeling of abandonment and dereliction. I like the boarded windows and the crumbling steps.
But when I got home and zoomed in, I realized that I had missed something:
There are swastikas scratched into the dirt on the risers and on the bottom of the door. It’s tempting to photoshop them out, but I think that would be irresponsible in this case. One of the functions of photography is to engage in clear-eyed reportage. Even — and maybe especially — the ugly stuff needs to be documented. We (citizens of Toronto) could walk around with our heads in the air and repeat our platitudes about Toronto The Good, but we would only be allowing unrest to simmer. Worse, we might be allowing it to boil over in a full-on hatred. Better to acknowledge it and ask hard questions about ourselves and the place we call home.