Urban Images
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Dale's urban subjects are currently from Toronto. When creating an image, she will look for a unique perspective some of which are preplanned and more often the artwork is created when the subject is shot. Her artwork often includes shadows and clouds; and will tell a story, make a statement or record a historical perspective.
For the Toronto Contract Photography Festival, she has created themed artwork.
Her 2009 Contact Exhibition called 'Preserving the Past for Today' presented views of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, Toronto and how the old world charm of the 19th century buildings have been retained and at the same time put to a productive use. It is now a great public space.
There are twelve photographs in this series with several being very dramatic.
- Pathway to Cumberland House is one of Dale's classic images where she draws in your imagination. In fact, this picture generated a very emotional response by one viewer as it related to a personal experience.
- Early Willow Growth 1 and Early Willow Growth 2 were created by using a red filter to darken the blue sky to accent the trees.
- She created an Alfred Hitchcock feel in the Cumberland House picture with the positioning of the old tree and the use of clouds.
In her 2008 Contact Exhibition called 'Gentrification - The Sell-out of our Heritage?', she explored the gentrification of Toronto's urban landscape. To bring this out in the pictures, one example, she composed the picture Missed Placed, Distillery District, Toronto by shooting the picture from a short shadow and cropping the condominium tower in the background. The analogy is that the existing building has a small shadow footprint. You can imagine the shadow footprint from the condominium tower.
The 2004 Contact Exhibition called 'Enter' was her first exhibition after leaving the corporate world and entering the art world. One of Dale's objectives is to perserve places of historical signifance through her photography.
- One example is the Matador Club, an after hours night club at College and Dovercourt in Toronto. The Matador has had a long history as a venue for country and classic rock bands. It is a Toronto institution with its own unique character.
- Another example of her historical pictures is Distillery Historic District Textures, Toronto where the texture of the stone wall and the lines in the brick walkway combine to create a dramatic image.
- For her picture Sunnyside Reflections, she created the feel of a Spanish villa. In fact, the picture was created mid-February in Toronto.
The Bates & Dodds, is a very recognizable Queen West streetscape with Toronto's oldest funeral home and Igor's Bike Repair Shop. In fact, Igor's Bike Shop has a very jaded past and now has been closed. As she was planning the picture, she decided that an element of motion (vehicular and pedestrian traffic) would create further interest. The image that she selected had a bicycle rider passing in front of the bike shop and a car passing in front of the funeral home. This is often referred to as two ghostly images passing in front of the funeral home.
Morning Reflections was created one June morning between 7 am - 8 am when she was just out for a walk by Mimico Marina at Humber Bay Park West in Toronto. The softness of the morning light and the slight movement in the water allowed her to create this unique image.
Pelican was created at Bluffers Park Marina while she was on a commission. She created this photograph by using the lines to draw your eye down the dock to the Scarborough Bluffs.
The Sunnyside Gates and Club Matador were preplanned images. For the nineteenth thumbnail, 'Bates & Dodds', I selected this location because I was looking for a Queen West streetscape for presentation at the Queen West Art Crawl in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Not only being across the street from Trinity Bellwoods Park, it is a very recognizable streetscape with Toronto's oldest funeral home and Igor's Bike Repair Shop.
As I was setting up, I decided that an element of motion (vehicular and pedestrian traffic) would add further interest to the image. The image that I selected had a bicycle rider passing in front of the bike shop and a car passing in front of the funeral home. This is often referred to as two ghostly images passing in front of the funeral home.
Awards and Recognition
- Morning Reflections - Nominee, 11th Annual Black & White Spider Awards, Fine Art, Professional.
