A visit to the AGO

Yesterday, I went with a new friend to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario, specifically to see the Edward Streichen fashion photography exhibit (In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Year 1923-1937). The photos were beautiful, stunning, really. I was particularly struck by the fact that the photos showed the models bodies in an unvarnished, unphotoshopped style. Obviously those technologies weren’t available at the time – but there was a comforting realism, or was it unrealism that moved me as I was looking at them They were stark and yet they had so much more depth than the poses that models are most often captured in now. These women had complex expressions on their faces – they were often looking off into the quarter or middle distance, and seemed to be thinking real thoughts. Sometimes, you could see that Streichen had caught the model in a moment of reverie, of private transport. Like I said, they were emotional – moving. After that we went for a yummy dinner at Jules Bistro. It was one of the best days I have had in a while. Life should be full of days of art, food and great conversation, shouldn’t it?

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