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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Six : Using reflections to transform reality > The Royal York, Toronto, Canada, 2009
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24-SEP-2009

The Royal York, Toronto, Canada, 2009

Three centuries of architecture come together in this image. A 21st century office building reflects an ethereal visage of the early 20th century, green turreted Royal York Hotel, while a late 19th century office building provides contrast at left. I integrate the scene by including a spray of leaves at right, which point at the old office structure and overlap the reflected image.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/800s f/5.6 at 120.0mm iso100 hide exif
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Date/Time24-Sep-2009 06:23:38
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-G1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length120 mm
Exposure Time1/800 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.66
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis21-Jan-2010 15:25
You hit on all the key points here, Zandra. It needs all of this context to express the contrasts between old and new Toronto.
Guest 30-Dec-2009 20:57
I am a big fan of using reflections too. I have a similar picture to this somewhere in my old files. I will see if I can find it. It was taken during one of my first visits to T.O. If I remember correctly, I closed in a lot further in my picture, leaving out the building itself. But my intention was the same, having the “past” reflect through the “present” by making use of an 20th century old building being reflected in a 21st century building. I believe this is a better approach as it adds more character by the simple fact that you can almost feel the contrast between the stone and the glass. This in turn further helps represent and divide the past form the present, not only by architectural style but also by materials used. But, the reflection reminds us that past and present goes hand in hand, one cannot be without the other.
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