What can photos taken by streetcar enthusiasts reveal about the changing nature of cities? This is the question explored by Brian and Michael Doucet in their book Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto: a visual analysis of change.
The Doucets carefully and meticulously rephotograph images taken in the 1960s to bring them into dialogue with contemporary planning, policy, political and public debates. These before and after images show the subtle and not-so-subtle economic, social, demographic and spatial changes that have taken place as Toronto has transitioned from an industrial and provincial city, to one of the world’s major global metropolises. There are many books, studies and reports that try to understand long-term changes in cities such as Toronto. Streetcars is one of the few that uses visual images as the primary way to analyse change. With this book, the Doucets aim to challenge everyone – scholars, students, planners, politicians and the wider public – to look at their cities in new and different ways.
Join us for this engaging and insightful discussion about how photography can be used to better understand cities and urban change.
Refreshments will be provided. No registration is required.
A limited number of copies will be available for purchase at a discounted price.
Brian Doucet is the Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Social Inclusion in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. Michael Doucet is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Geography at Toronto Metropolitan University