How I Was Inspired by Joel Meyerowitz

My CN Tower series

A couple of years ago, I borrowed Joel Meyerowitz’s book “Where I Find Myself” from my local library. It’s a retrospective look at his entire career and gives a fascinating insight into his photographic process. Now, I wouldn’t consider myself to be a huge fan of his work but there are definitely some projects and photos of his that resonate with me. His project about the aftermath of the World Trade Centre attacks is excellent and very moving. However, it was his Empire State Building series that really grabbed my attention and inspired me to work on my own photo series based on Toronto’s iconic CN Tower.

In his book, Meyerowitz explains how he was inspired by the Mount Fuji paintings of Katsushika Hokusai. Meyerowitz felt that Hokusai’s paintings were like early versions of street photography in how they captured the day to day comings and goings of farmers, fishermen, geishas, warriors etc. All this was going on while Mount Fuji maintained a presence in the background. Meyerowitz wondered if he could do something like that in an urban setting. From this idea came his Empire State Building series.

My goal was to have the Empire State Building ever present, from close up to very far away, presiding over the scene like a Mount Fuji, while I would watch for the signs of daily life that would make a new kind of photographic sense when seen all together.

Living in Toronto, it’s very difficult not to see the CN Tower. After all, at one time it held the record for being the largest freestanding structure in the world and is still the tallest structure in the city. So, it made perfect sense to me to embark on my own series using the ever present tower as my Mount Fuji/Empire State Building. I decided to use some of Meyerowitz’s ideas but put my own spin on them. Now, whenever I’m out (with or without my camera) I’m always looking for potential CN Tower photos. It’s surprising how difficult it can be to capture in a unique way what is probably the most photographed sight in the city. This is an ongoing, very fluid project. I have no specific end date and no specific goal in mind. It’s just a personal project to keep my creative juices flowing.

Here are a few examples of the project so far:

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