Dreaming in Black & White. It’s funny how sometimes the picture comes to me at the location, and sometimes it’s just there in my head. A lot of this project has been pre-planning locations, and sometimes it works out, and I take the shot; other times, it just happens, and it still comes to me well beforehand. For Doors Open Toronto, I had a couple of possible locations that could’ve served for Week 22, one being the gorgeous RC Harris Water Treatment plant. I had no desire to drive out to Scarborough and then find a place to park my car and ride the TTC into the downtown core for most of the Doors Open Locations. So I reformulated my route, which gave me lots of options. But the Friday before, I saw the photo I wanted in a dream, the location of Commerce Court North, and exactly how I wanted it to work. Now I visited Commerce Court North back in 2010, and fell for the place. This was once the tallest building in the British Empire, built in 1930 and designed in the Beaux-Arts style, one of my favourite styles. As for the look, I wanted something contrasty, with deep blacks and bright whites, so I went and pushed the film up to ASA-800 and used another roll film formula for Tri-X 400, which I enjoyed working with last year.
Modified Anniversary Speed Graphic – Schneider-Kreuznack Angulon 1:6,8/90 – Kodak Tri-X Pan (320TXP)
Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V
1/5″ – f/32 – ASA-800
Kodak HC-110 Dil. A 5:15 @ 20C