May 14, 2015    

 

Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale) and Canadian photographer Colin Boyd Shafer last night launched Shafer's exhibition called INTERLOVE. The black-and-white documentary photography series at the City's Mackenzie House historical site explores how people with different religious beliefs come together in love and shared respect.

 

"Showcasing people of different faith backgrounds, beliefs and perspectives who discovered and focused on their commonalities rather than their differences demonstrates one of the ways that we as a City have grown in our mutual respect, inclusion and understanding," said Councillor Wong-Tam.

 

"Shafer’s work reflects and celebrates the diversity and tolerance that are among our City’s greatest strengths," said Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic Development and Culture Committee.

 

The exhibition consists of 12 portraits and 28 additional photos from the project that can be viewed on a video loop. There will also be "QR" codes on the photo labels that will connect visitors with smart phones to the personal stories of the photo subjects.

 

Shafer is a Canadian documentary photographer and social sciences educator born in Kitchener. His last project, Cosmopolis Toronto, won the 2014 Toronto Urban Photography Festival. The INTERLOVE project was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo.

 

The exhibition will run until August 16 at Mackenzie House at 82 Bond St. in downtown Toronto. More information about the exhibition and the location is available at http://interloveproject.com/# and http://www.toronto.ca/mackenziehouse.

 

Mackenzie House is one of Toronto's Historic Sites, a collection of 10 City-owned and operated properties that work with the public through programs, events and exhibits to tell the stories of Toronto. More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/museums, as well as at facebook.com/historictoronto or @tohistoricsites.

 

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1FaaEbJ

 

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

 

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Media contact: Shane Gerard, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5711, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.