William Oldacre Photography

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Why This & Not That

Over the holidays – which seems like years ago, I was watching the Movie Hanna and one of the characters had some dialogue that gave voice to something I’ve tried to say so many times in the past but have never been able to say so eloquently. Its about Why… of course. Moreover, its about why I photograph the city – and about when I first began seriously considering the city as my subject.

In 1995, about a year after I moved to Toronto  I was profoundly affected by my mother’s death from cancer. At the same time I had become aimless in my photography having decided to pursue colour photography, embrace digital image processing – with it’s steep learning curve and colour control issues and leave Black & White photography behind. It wasn’t until I was able to gain control of the digital beast and work out a new direction – a vehicle for my emotion – a topic of discussion, that I began to feel better.

Metro motion – my first body of work about Toronto, was an outpouring of pent up emotion and creativity – an upwelling from within. With that work, I managed to open the floodgates and found a foothold in my formerly stifling urban home. Ironically, in a complete about face for me, the city – the urban environment – antithesis to the rural environment, has become my subject.

Honestly, I don’t think I could return to the way I was before moving here.