Your Street Photography Workshop Guide to Toronto

Toronto is not only the capital of Ontario and one of the most famous cities in Canada. It is as well the city with the fourth biggest population in North America and an international business center. Moreover the city is internationally known as an finance and art center.

Street Photographers don’t just benefit from the size and the locations of Toronto but from its multicultural inhabitants and influences.

 

The most popular places and hot spots for Street Photography in Toronto

When you get to Toronto you’ll recognize a mixture of historic architecture, and modern as well as multicultural influences and buildings. This mixture makes Toronto to an special and popular destination for Street Photographers, tourists and globetrotters.

 

The Distillery District – history meets modernity

The residential and commercial district, located in downtown Toronto, combines modern shopping culture with traditional buildings of the Victorian-era.

It is an popular shopping district and functioned as location for more than 800 television and film productions. The Trinity Street is the biggest street in this area and functions as location for public events like markets. You can find a diverse audience there and get great shots of everyday situations and people celebrating special events there.

The best way to reach the Distillery District by public transportation is taking the subway to Castle Frank and change to Bus 65A until you reach Front St. from there it is only a one block walk till you get to Mill St. and the Distillery District.

 

Kensington Market – a multicultural quarter

Kensington Market is a great place for tourists and inhabitants but also for Street Photographers in Toronto. It is a multicultural hot spot that contains cafes, restaurants and other stores that are often conducted by foreign peoples what makes this places so authentic and interesting for Street Photographers.

In fact the Kensington Market is the most photographed location in Toronto because of the multicultural atmosphere and the festivals that take place there all over the year. You get there quiet easily taking the street car and getting of at Dundas or College depending on which line you take.

 

Yong Street – leading you to Toronto’s sights

This street made it into the Guinness World Records with 1896 kilometers. It leads from Toronto to the north of Ontario and crosses lots of Toronto’s sights. Following this street you will be able to make some great shots of tourists, working people and the everyday live in Toronto.

The Eaton Center, Dundas Square and the Hockey Hall of Fame are just some of the famous locations you will see along your way. Another popular building along the Yong Street is the Bank of Toronto, the building is saved by the Ontario Heritage Act and provides a historic setting for Street Photography in Toronto.

 

The best photo galleries for Street Photographers in Toronto

Apart from the locations that provide special settings for Street Photographers in Toronto, there are lots of galleries and museums that exhibit (Street) Photography.

 

The Toronto Urban Photography Festival – TUPF (takes place in different locations every year)

TUPF is not actually a Gallery for Street Photography but an annual festival that focuses on the image of the city in the human society. It is a great opportunity for Street Photographers to see different kinds of Street Photography or display their own work.

 

Ryerson Image Centre – RIC

In the RIC Photography is not only exhibit it is also researched and taught. The center cooperates with the the cultural network and the national and international community. It provides daily exhibition tours for free and offers diverse exhibitions.

33 Gould Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3

 

Gallery 44 – Centre for Contemporary Photography

This non-profit gallery focuses on Photography as an changing and versatile art. The goal of this gallery is to create a platform for contemporary Photography and provide a places for dialogues and discussions around it. They exhibit the work of award-winning Photographers from Canada and all over the world but also support becoming Photographers. As a result Gallery 44 functions not only as an normal gallery but also provides an educational programs to support Toronto’s youth and offers diverse workshops for Photographers of all levels.

These galleries only display a small amount of Toronto’s galleries and museums for Photography and art. The Canadian city provides lots of worth seeing and visiting places and locations as well as great settings for Street Photography and Photographers.

401 Richmond Street West, Suite #120, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8

Great Street Photography from Toronto on Flickr:

 

Street Photography workshops and classes in Toronto

There is a multitude of (Street) Photography classes and courses offered in Toronto. Whether you’re planning on improving your photography skills or want to make first experiences in Street Photography, there are classes that cover every level of expertise. Find a list of classes and workshops below.

 

GTA Photography

Founded in 2009, GTA Photography offers a whole lot of different classes and camps for adults as well as for children. No matter if you want to get started with learning the fundamentals in Photo 101 introduction classes or if you want to specialize your skills, GTA covers your needs. Choose between Food Photography, Portraiture, Lightroom/ Photoshop 101 and Night or Travel Photography.

GTA Photography also offers classes that help photographers that are eager to start their own business to get off a good start. If you cannot make the scheduled workshop times or want lessons to be more tailored to suit their needs you can take private lessons, too.

A special kind of workshop especially for children is the GTA Photography camp. The camp is focused on teaching the campers to work with their cameras and helps pushing their creativity. There are different camps for different skill levels from absolute beginners to intermediate photographers. At the end of every camp there is an exhibit, which gives the campers the opportunity to showcase their work.

 

Hart House

Being a co- curricular center of Toronto’s university, Hart House is a place that invites everyone to explore cultural, creative and intellectual activities. Not only offers Hart House a multitude of classes for every interest, but it also hosts many lectures, concerts, live performances and events.

Whether you want to master the art of digital photography or prefer using an analogue camera with film, Hart House classes cover your needs. Choose between fundamental classes that teach you how to compose images or an introduction to DSLR Photography. Deepen your black and white darkroom techniques or get started with Travel and Street Photography Basics. All classes are led by professional educators and/ or artists.
Hart House only offers classes and workshops, there is no possibility to take private lessons.

 

East End Arts

Besides many other art classes East End Arts offers meet ups and Photograpy and Street Photography Workshops in and around Toronto focusing Exploring Photography. No matter if you just got started or if you are an advanced photographer, the East End Arts workshops help you to boost you confidence and to expand your creativity. Al Uehre and Katy Lee who both are well known and international exhibited photographers are the leader of the group. Tutorial materials are usually provided at the workshops.

 

The Developing Tank Photography School

Covering all levels of expertise the DTPS offers a wide range of photography classes. From Photography One class that teaches you how to work with the manual mode of your camera to Photography Three that focuses on creating series of images and creating work in response on request.

Besides the basics you can deepen your skills in Lightroom Basics, Color Photography and Portraiture. The classes are kept small to create the perfect learning and developing environment.

 

Purple Tree Photography School

With 15 years of experience the Purple Tree Photography school invites both photography beginners and advanced photographers to join the continuous learning process that comes with the art of photography. Their comprehensive courses will give you insights on how to compose shots, balance light and use your equipment to take stunning pictures.
The PTPS offers classes that focuses on Photography Basics that will teach you both the artistic and technical aspects of Photography.

When you mastered the basics and want to move on you can participate in the “Fun Photography Class” that gives you the opportunity to test your skills in fun studio sessions.

 

Henry’s Learning Lab Photo Courses

Formerly known as Henry’s School of Imaging it offers a more basic photography class portfolio. You can choose between basic classes like Photography 101 and 201 that are meant to get you out of your camera’s auto mode. You will learn how to work with manual mode and everything about shutter speeds. These classes enable you to capture breath- taking pictures and explore your creativity.

Choose between single session courses ( 2.5 to 4 hours in one session) or multi-week classes, which are perfect if you prefer a more personalized learning style (10 hours over the course of 5 weeks, 2 hours per session).

The multitude of workshops, classes and courses for Street Photographers in Toronto is huge and provides the ideal course for every experienced photographer, newcomer, adult or child and diplays the diversity of Toronto itself perfectly.

 

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