"Ugly Beautiful TO" Gallery Show

Toronto, for better or for worse, sends people down two different roads. It's either a beautiful, efficient, well-run city stuffed with culture, good food, and distinct neighbourhoods. Or, it's an ugly metropolis filled with glass box skyscrapers and parking lot highways. 

The late Anthony Bourdain claimed of Toronto in his Layover episode: “It’s not a good-looking city. It’s not a good-looking town. You’ve got all the worst architectural fads of the 20th century." Ugly Beautiful TO walks that line. With a focus on some of Toronto's notoriously ugly (Galleria and Dufferin Mall) to the neon glimmer of Zanzibar and Filmore's to the lovely chaos of Sneaky Dee's, I wanted to capture these sites in an aesthetically-pleasing glow. These 10 long-exposure photographs have been shot in all weather conditions, in all hours of the night, across Ugly Beautiful Toronto.

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For the month of January 2023, Ugly Beautiful TO hung at Twist Gallery in Toronto. Thank you all for the warm reception and all the lovely feedback on the show! If you're interested in a framed print, please view my shop here.

© RYAN BOLTON PHOTOGRAPHY

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