TGPA – Toronto Guild of Photographic Artists has a number of outings throughout the year. In the Fall, especially, outings are quite helpful in order to meet new members, get help on any photo problems, and generally hone your image taking skills (as if the Summer offered any break in pictue taking).
There were enough photo people to help populate the market.
The first outing was to Kensington Market under the tutelage of Robert Sadoff. Robert knows the market well and took over a dozen TGPA-ers on a tour of Kensington”s many photographic diversions. He had advice on what you can and cannot do at many of the shops and nooks. Also Robert suggested a number of tips on how to get better people shots – especially in traffic.
Fishing for Color? Its a Sure Catch in the Market
Also the weather semi-cooperated. It was overcast, cool but not chill, and not too windy. I have been in the market when gusts of wind produce dust in your eyes and camera lens. Not to worry. But what was missing was the crowded bustle that I have come to expect on a Saturday morning in the market.
But there was no denying it, this Saturday morning was a slow day – as the dress shopkeeper above remarked, worse than a Monday afternoon in the heat of July. She had no explanation – but I had my theories. Perhaps it was all those lowcut chartreuse dresses she was selling. Or maybe it is due to all those Toronto International Film Festival types – partying all night, they have no Saturday morning ooomph. So you spent time chatting with a few shoppers and more shopkeepers and kept an eye open for a belle dame or beau geste or two.
However, if hues and colors are on the top of your chart, well then the Kensington Market is ever resplendent. Why not? Its harvest time and so Summer veggies are strutting their colors in bushel crates of splendid abundance. The crafty shopkeepers pile them in with the right garnish of color and form … hence striking color images are all over the market like plush plums ready for the picking.
Who said Taste is not in the Beholding ?
And if the veggies don”t provide enough Tintoretto tints to meet your tastes, the walls in the market will certainly try huefully. And there is such a variety of styles:
Classic Style with Weathering
Tucked away on a side street, there are many walls with street paintings which, like the wall posters slapped up on any open surface, have a street life of maybe two weeks lucky, two months must be so damn good. Occasionally, you find a classic wall painting, tucked away in a corner and effectively out of reach, that celebrates the colors and shapes of the
produce on sale.
Protected Produce Painting
As the day”s overcast lifts towards noon, there are more people and people pictures to be found. Actually there were plenty of people pictures to be had, but it takes coaxing, a chat or three, and just sheer opportunity to come bustling by. And as noon approaches, the hurry and the hustle (and hence more people picture opportunities) really starts to pick up. I caught mine excavating between two walls not far from where we started earlier in the morning. These characters had a droll sense of street humor that would do Comedy Central proud. But wouldn”t you know it, just when photographic opportunity knocks, I am already out the door and onto bigger and better I think.
