Ears, Eyes and Voice: free photography exhibition

Opening Saturday at North Toronto’s Meridian Arts Centre

Eddie Grant photo of PM Manley

Way back in the 70s and 80s a quintet of Caribbean Canadian photojournalists were literarily the Ears, Eyes and Voice of Toronto’s many hard-hitting community newspapers!  Press photographs taken by Jules Elder, Eddie Grant, Diane Liverpool, Al Peabody and Jim Russell are on display beginning Saturday at the Meridian Arts Centre in North Toronto as part of Black History Month celebrations in the city.

This free exhibition, presented by TO Live, brings together important historic works by the five “shooters”. Their combined collection of photographs is a rare pictorial record of newspaper stories that covered the evolving history of the community.

Ears, Eyes, Voice bring back both good and bad memories from the streets of Toronto. There are pictures of reggae star Peter Tosh at the O’Keefe Centre; Caribana as a giant Blocko on University Avenue, and a large Africa Liberation Day march that took over downtown streets.

The show was organized and circulated by the Black Artists’ Networks in Dialogue (BAND), and was curated by Art Gallery of Ontario’s photography expert Dr. Julie Crooks.  Her exhibition comes to Toronto after a successful showing last year at the Burlington Art Gallery and the Contact photography festival the year.

The names of the four men and one female photographer should ring bells with Caribbean Camera readers.  Their pictures and by-lines appeared weekly in Share, Pride, Contrast, the Toronto Sun and many other papers many of which have since ceased publishing.

Jules Elder was the Managing Editor of Share Newspaper, and later he became Associate Producer for the OMNI TV show, In the Black. He was also columnist with the Toronto Sun (1998-2004).  Eddie Grant was a regular photo contributor to Spear: The Magazine about Truth and Soul (1971–1987). His pictures appeared in both Contrast and Share newspapers and from time-to-time his pictures still appear in the Caribbean Camera.

Diane Liverpool, one of the few black female photojournalists working in Toronto took news photos throughout the 1970s and 80s for Contrast.  

Journalist and photographer Al Peabody was also a Contrast photographer and he worked freelance for The Globe and Mail and the Star some 50 years ago.

Jim Russell began his career in the early 1970s freelancing with the Toronto Sun. He also shot pictures for Contrast and Share.

The show opens on Saturday, the same day that Louisiana jazz singer Quiana Lynell performs at 8pm in the Meridian Art Centre’s George Weston Recital Hall. Lynell show ticket holders are invited to sip free champagne and take in the opening of the Ears, Eyes and Voice exhibition.

The photography show will remain on the walls of the Meridian Art Centre’s gallery until March 8th.  On Sunday February 18th Dr. Julie Crooks will be in the gallery space in conversation with exhibit photographer Diane Liverpool talking about her experience as a female photographer. The two will lead a tour of the show.

The Meridian Arts Centre is located on Yonge Street in between the Sheppard and North York Centre subway stops. Exhibition hours: Thursday – Sunday 1PM – 6PM and is also open to anyone attending other events at Meridian Arts Centre.