Back in Spacing’s spring 2010 issue, we featured a photo essay by Surendra Lawoti that focused on the life of people living in the Don Valley. Lawoti’s detailed and large-scale images focus on the makeshift shelters and their inhabitants that can be found along the river, as well as the recreational users of this green urban space. It is through the people he pictures that we begin to understand the dynamics of this landscape.
This Saturday May 14, Lawoti will discuss his photography series with me at Gallery 44 (401 Richmond St. W., suite 120) on Saturday, May 14 at 1pm. The exhibition, which shows numerous photos not published in Spacing, runs until June 4th.
As I wrote in the essay of his exhibition’s book, “Lawoti’s images don’t judge—instead, they seem to listen to the people, the tents, and the abandoned shopping carts. His photographs tell us unique and critical stories about this particular place in the city that, for a few tough souls, offers up a last hope. And hope has always been a part of the allure of the Don River.”
This exhibition and event are part of the 2011 CONTACT Photography Festival.
Surendra Lawoti was born in Nepal and is now based in Toronto where he is sessional faculty at Ontario College of Art and Design University. He received his BA from Columbia College Chicago and MFA in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. His work has been exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Medellin, Colombia and in Kathmandu, Nepal. His work stems from his interest in social issues, politics, documentary, art and beauty.
