Powell Gallery Homepage - 2023-2024

May 6–27, 2024, Contact Photography Festival - Toronto Camera Club Powell Gallery. Spirit of Toronto - Festivals and Parades. Group Show

Open to the public on Mondays, May 6, 13, 27 from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Saturdays (May 11, 18 & 25) and Sundays (12, 19 & 26) from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm.

The Spirit of Toronto, a traditional theme for the Toronto Camera Club’s Contact Photography Festival Group Exhibit, has a sub-theme this year – Festivals and Parades. These public events play a crucial role in enriching cultural, social, economic, and individual aspects of societies. They provide a platform for shared experiences, foster a sense of community, and contribute to the overall vibrancy and diversity of human life. Club members have contributed their images to convey their feel and understanding of the Metropolis, revealing Toronto's dynamics, diversity and an astounding mix of people from all over the world.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

April 06 - April 29, 2024. Hidden Beauty and Emerging Perspectives by Pat Zuest

Open to the Public on Mondays, April 8, 15, 22, 29, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm  and on April 6, 13, 20 from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

Note that the Powell Gallery will also be accessible for people who have purchased tickets to our Public Presentation on April 25, 26, 27 and 28. For details on the Public Presentation, click here.

Pat Zuest has been a member of the Toronto Camera Club for thirty years. Her images set an unparalleled standard within our club,captivating the viewer not only as visual delights but also serving as aspirational benchmarks.

Pat has been a certified judge for over 20 years, and among the numerous panels of judges she stands out as possessing both stronganalytic skills and deep experience in the artistic nuances and technical intricacies of photography.

Having begun photography in the 1990s as an underwater and nature photographer, this print show will feature her recent explorations in abstract and impressionism in photo based art along with some favourites from her international travels and home bases in both BC and Ontario. 

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

March 11 - April 01, 2024. Time Expressions and Abstract Flowers by Gulnur Sener

Open to the Public on Mondays, March 11 from 4:00 to 7:00 and March 18, 25 and April 01, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. 

Gulnur Sener joined the TCC Club in 2018 and soon became an active volunteer, assisting with the Powell Gallery and Inspirational Images Nights and curating the club's 3D Galleries, introducing a digital exhibition format in 2020 during the Covid lockdown. 

Over the last five years we have enjoyed seeing Gulnur’s exquisite images during our club competitions, filled with beauty, taste and wit. As a fine art photographer, Gulnur’s passion is to create abstract imagery, with digitally enhanced photos and exploring ICM, close-ups, and monochrome photography. Inspiration strikes from discovering geometric elements in architecture and nature, capturing reflections and shadows. 

These collections of her images include "Time Expressions" embodied into visuals while “Abstract Flowers” seem to float in a timeless space as if frozen in a moment.  "Time Expressions" delves into moments fading and patterns repeating, fostering awareness of individual paces of time. Viewers are invited to guess the time expression before reading titles, prompting self-reflection on their relationship with time. In the 'Abstract Flowers' series, Gulnur transports us to a timeless realm, freezing moments to reveal nature's delicate beauty in an altered reality. These images evoke emotions, dreams, and imagination, encouraging viewers to reflect on their connection with time and the natural world.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

February 12, 2024 – March 04 2024, Dreams of Nature by Kathryn Moore

Open to the Public on Mondays, February 12, 26 and March 04, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

Note: Closed for Family Day, February 19.

Kathryn Moore, the Toronto Camera Club's president, joined the club in 2013 and is one of our most dedicated volunteers. Kathryn's work always stands out in our creative competitions, thanks to the unique blend of genuine creativity and her noble-minded and caring personality. Through her photographic art she shows the beauty of nature, highlighting environmental issues and showing the consequences of human actions with the hope of engaging viewers on an emotional level and motivate them to look after and preserve nature. Kathryn has always had a love of nature and spent hours as a child and as an adult, wandering the woods, exploring ponds and streams with her camera while being fascinated by everything that lives in the wild.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

January 22, 2024 – February 10, 2024, Silhouettes – Group Show

Open to the Public on Mondays, January 22, 29, February 05, 2024 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Out of the almost twenty competitions we hold each year in our club, the Assigned Topic stands out with a real thrill. Unlike the many postcards or cliché images commonly seen in our Pictorial competitions, the Assigned Topic provides an opportunity for creativity and innovation, offering a rewarding experience to observe. For this reason, we've decided to showcase Silhouettes in the Powell Gallery, featuring one of the six topics from a previous season.
The exhibit includes 19 images, encompassing both winners and those who scored similarly.

Image Credit: Mei Shih, Beginners Division, Vienna City Hall

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

December 04, 2023 - January 15, 2024. Light and Shadow by Victor Peters

Open to the Public on Mondays, December 04, 11, 18, 2023, and January 15, 2024 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Victor Peters has been a member of the Toronto Camera Club since 2005. He has been the Treasurer of the Club for the past 15 years and has held several other prominent volunteer positions throughout the years. He is also a certified judge and has judged other club’s competitions regularly.

Victor is an accomplished photographer in many genres having won many competitions (he is currently recognized as a Toronto Camera Club Life Master). He has been photographing for almost 70 years and has participated in several curated exhibitions at which several of his prints have been sold. His prints hang in numerous institutions, businesses and private homes.

Victor welcomes new photographic challenges and in this exhibition he has stepped out of his comfort zone and presents images in the genre of nude photography, a genre with which he has had no prior experience.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

November 13, 2023 – December 02, 2023: London Fields by Sarah Sheard

Open to the Public on Mondays, November 13, 20, 27 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm and on Saturday, November 18, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Sarah Sheard was given her first camera (Olympus Trip) on her 12th birthday. She ran outside and took slides of rainbow gutters, drain covers, shiny car bumpers, reflections in windows. Lost now, it was the start of observing and searching out the poetry inside the everyday, working with light and projection. She became a writer and her third novel, The Hypnotist, was written from the point of view of a photographer. In 2012, Sarah started making video trailers for her 4th novel. She discovered the joy of shooting and editing videos and working with a still camera again, looking for the poetry and stories in the everyday world with the camera. During the Covid lockdown in 2020, she collaborated with her late partner, actor David Fox, making green screen animated videos and a short documentary on his life.

In September, 2022, Sarah took her Leica DLux7 (converted B&W) to London, England and discovered the joy of photographing its streets and natural beauty. She went back in June-July, 2023 to document more of London's streets and parks, pubs and faces. In reflecting on the differences between writing and working with images, perhaps one is that a writer must withdraw from the world in order to write while a photographer goes out into the world in order to create. Making photographs and videos is the closest thing she has found to be a combination of both.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

October 23, 2023 - November 11, 2023: Nature in Focus by Max Skwarna

Open to the Public on Mondays, October 23,30 and November 6, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Max Skwarna rejoined the Toronto Camera Club in 2022/23. Originally from Montreal, Max fostered his love of photography at the age of 18 with his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. After moving to Toronto to work with Gerald Campbell, one of most prestigious portrait photographers in the country, Max began shooting with illustrious photographers Al Gilbert, Tibor Horvath, and nature photographer Dan Gibson. At 23, Max acquired Ashley & Crippen Photography from Gibson and struck out on his own to bring new life to the oldest portrait studio in Canada.

At 40, Max began taking photos while hiking the Bruce Trail in Southern Ontario. Over the past three decades, Max has honed his love for nature photography all over the world, taking thousands of pictures of flora and fauna. For the past four years, Max has focused his nature photography on his favourite spots in Ontario, including the Rouge Valley, the Blackwater Rail Trail, and Carden Alvar Provincial Park—all of which are featured in this show. Retiring from portrait photography in 2022, Max plans to spend his retirement further exploring his passion for nature photography.

Although he loves wild birds, his most treasured captures are of butterflies.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,

October 2, 2023 to October 21, 2023: Canada's Secret Island by Stewart Stein

Open to the Public on Mondays, October 2, 9, and 16 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm and
Saturday, October 21, from 11:00am to 2:00pm

Stewart Stein, a Toronto Camera Club member since 2015, has been pursuing photography since he was a teenager, inspired and encouraged by his father, an avid photographer. He feels most comfortable behind the camera as being more of an introvert. If you browse Stewart’s Instagramimages you'll see that just about everything interests him from nature to street photography. His interests outside of photography include astronomy, painting andsketching, stone carving, mycology and birding.

Grand Manan (NB) Island located on Canada’s east coast, in the Bay of Fundy, is a jewel of an island. Steeped in Maritime history, rich in natural beauty, geology, birds and sea life, Grand Manan Island is a photographer’s paradise. However, most people have never heard of it and cannot locate it on a map. It is as though a secret. Images of the island skilfully captured by Stewart will surely wet viewers appetite to explore Grand Manan island for themselves.

Iskouhee Kirakosyan, Powell Gallery Curator,