URBAN MICROCOSM
Yonge-Dundas Square is a public-private square located in downtown Toronto, completed in 2002, which replaced the buildings on the southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas.
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Yonge-Dundas Square is a public-private square located in downtown Toronto, completed in 2002, which replaced the buildings on the southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas. The space is often used for public events hosted by the city, or by businesses and organizations for events and promotional purposes. While these events are regular occurrences, the space remains open and functions as a hub of the downtown core for much of the year. Residents of the city frequent it as often as visitors, and it has developed its own distinguished identity very rapidly.
Throughout the process of documenting Yonge-Dundas Square, many of its functions became apparent. Some use the space to connect with each other, while others use it in search of solitude. Some pass through on their daily commutes, while others are attached to the space. While all of this is occurring, there is a constant commercial presence, easily identifiable by the surrounding screens, billboards and retail locations. It exists as an urban microcosm, drawing upon all forms of human activity and all social classes.
The intricacies of how Yonge-Dundas Square functions are hidden in plain sight, as the fleeting moments are easily lost in the continuous activity of one of Toronto’s busiest intersections. All of the photographs in Urban Microcosm are candid moments, meant to capture and document fragments of the exchanges that take place on a daily basis in Yonge-Dundas Square.
(2017)