Toronto in the Seventies
Photographs by Brian Condron
Will be published approx. on 17. December 2026
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-1-77327-295-5 (ISBN)
Description
Filled with nuance, humour, and pathos, these photos document the everyday push and pull of Toronto and its citizens during a decade of profound progress.
The 1970s in Toronto were heady days of growth and optimism. With new additions to the skyline including the CN Tower and new places to gather like the Eaton Centre, the city began shifting away from its meatpacking and smoke-belching industry and transforming into a bustling modern metropolis. Social change and immigration followed apace, and "Toronto the Good" shed its puritan reputation and evolved into a grittier, larger, and more multicultural city. In this collection of more than 100 images-most of them previously unpublished-photographer Brian Condron captures a city in flux.
In Toronto in the Seventies, Condron documents the everyday lives of Torontonians as the city boomed: a population with one foot firmly rooted in the past and the other valiantly striding for the future. Captured in these pages are local shopkeepers, Bay Street bankers, streetcar riders in their Sunday best, and fashionable Yonge Street partygoers. There are auto garages, greasy spoons, schoolyards, and streetscapes, all fixed in time. Unexpected juxtapositions and artfully captured coincidence fill the frames and demand scrutiny. Overall, there's a sense of something happening in Condron's photographs-a city hurtling toward the future while the rhythms of daily life seemingly stand still.
The 1970s in Toronto were heady days of growth and optimism. With new additions to the skyline including the CN Tower and new places to gather like the Eaton Centre, the city began shifting away from its meatpacking and smoke-belching industry and transforming into a bustling modern metropolis. Social change and immigration followed apace, and "Toronto the Good" shed its puritan reputation and evolved into a grittier, larger, and more multicultural city. In this collection of more than 100 images-most of them previously unpublished-photographer Brian Condron captures a city in flux.
In Toronto in the Seventies, Condron documents the everyday lives of Torontonians as the city boomed: a population with one foot firmly rooted in the past and the other valiantly striding for the future. Captured in these pages are local shopkeepers, Bay Street bankers, streetcar riders in their Sunday best, and fashionable Yonge Street partygoers. There are auto garages, greasy spoons, schoolyards, and streetscapes, all fixed in time. Unexpected juxtapositions and artfully captured coincidence fill the frames and demand scrutiny. Overall, there's a sense of something happening in Condron's photographs-a city hurtling toward the future while the rhythms of daily life seemingly stand still.
Reviews / Votes
"The suits, the cars, the store displays-Brian Condron's photographs offer a rare time capsule of downtown Toronto in the 1970s. His young man's eye sought out life in public spaces with all the hallmarks of classic street photography-curiosity, wit, and empathy-all organized with and through the shapes of the city. A delight to discover."-Sophie Hackett, Curator, Photography, Art Gallery of Ontario
"Brian Condron's offbeat chronicle of everyday life on the streets of 1970s Toronto is told with humour and affection."
-Sarah Bassnett, Professor, Art History, Western University, and co-author of Photography in Canada, 1839-1989
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
120 black and white photos
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 203 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-77327-295-5 (9781773272955)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Brian Condron was born in Toronto, Canada in 1949. He picked up a camera at the age of eighteen after seeing a touring National Film Board exhibition Call Them Canadians. From that time on, photography has been his passion and his professional life.
After graduating from Sheridan College (Applied Photography) in 1971 and from York University (BFA, Visual Arts) in 1976, Condon pursued an interest in black and white social landscape photography. He exhibited widely during this time, surviving through part-time teaching, photo sales, and the generosity of the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
In the mid 1980s Condron was offered a part-time newspaper job in Toronto at The Financial Post. This position led him to become a newspaper/magazine photographer, albeit an unusual one, always with a small Leica in his kit.
In 1990, Condon immigrated to Australia where he worked for The Australian newspaper and for BRW magazine. These days, Brian Condron lives just outside Brisbane with Desley, his wife. He continues taking pictures and has recently returned to exhibiting. And he still carries that Leica. Author and musician Dave Bidini is the only person to have been nominated for a Gemini, a Genie, and a Juno. A founding member of Rheostatics and a member of Bidiniband, he has written 13 books, including On a Cold Road (a finalist for CBC Radio's Canada Reads competition), Tropic of Hockey, Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs, and his most recent, Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North. In 2017 he launched the broadsheet newspaper West End Phoenix, and in 2023 he co-directed the CBC series "Summit '72."
After graduating from Sheridan College (Applied Photography) in 1971 and from York University (BFA, Visual Arts) in 1976, Condon pursued an interest in black and white social landscape photography. He exhibited widely during this time, surviving through part-time teaching, photo sales, and the generosity of the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
In the mid 1980s Condron was offered a part-time newspaper job in Toronto at The Financial Post. This position led him to become a newspaper/magazine photographer, albeit an unusual one, always with a small Leica in his kit.
In 1990, Condon immigrated to Australia where he worked for The Australian newspaper and for BRW magazine. These days, Brian Condron lives just outside Brisbane with Desley, his wife. He continues taking pictures and has recently returned to exhibiting. And he still carries that Leica. Author and musician Dave Bidini is the only person to have been nominated for a Gemini, a Genie, and a Juno. A founding member of Rheostatics and a member of Bidiniband, he has written 13 books, including On a Cold Road (a finalist for CBC Radio's Canada Reads competition), Tropic of Hockey, Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs, and his most recent, Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North. In 2017 he launched the broadsheet newspaper West End Phoenix, and in 2023 he co-directed the CBC series "Summit '72."