Toronto as Community

Toronto in Photographs is a poetic portrayal of the city, with photographs sequenced to evoke an intimate visual symphony. The pictures document the daily life of ordinary citizens, including work and leisure. The book also documents many of the natural areas and some of the city’s architecture, all through the lens of social justice. The images will resonate and provoke the readers’ sense of nostalgia, inviting reflection on the city that once was, how it became the city is it, and how it continues to develop into a social experiment that is the envy of many other cities and nations.

As the largest city in Canada and the third largest in North America, Toronto has become one of the most ethnically diversified cities in the world, with over 52% of its residents born outside of the country and speaking 180 languages.

Vincenzo Pietropaolo has been a dedicated chronicle of Toronto for more than fifty years. His attachment to the city and its people is demonstrated on every page of Toronto in Photographs. His father was a construction worker who helped to build many of Toronto’s landmark buildings. Vincenzo collaborated with Jane Jacobs, by providing photographs for an exhibition base on her seminal book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. He is the author of numerous monographs and exhibition catalogues, as well as commissioned books.