2023 Events at the IMC

Reception for Xin He: Better City, Better Life. 

Join us to celebrate Xin He: Better City, Better Life in the Student Gallery. 

Curators in Conversation: The "Thoughtography" of Ted Serios

Join IMC Director Paul Roth and Emily Hauver, Guest Curator of Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios, for a virtual talk exploring the photographic process of Ted Serios, a Chicago bellhop who claimed he could capture his thoughts on film.

Film Screening: Ward 81 Voices

In her books, exhibitions and editorial work for publications like LIFE, New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker, American photographer Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) transported her viewers to places rarely seen. To celebrate the new exhibit, Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81, at The Image Centre (IMC) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Hot Docs and the IMC are proud to present Ward 81 Voices, a gripping new documentary about Mark’s time documenting the Oregon State Hospital, a psychiatric facility she first encountered while doing set photography for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Martin Bell (Streetwise), Mark’s husband and longtime collaborator, the film uses audio recordings, archival materials and Mark’s extraordinary photographs to offer a remarkable snapshot of her creative process in action and the humanistic approach and long-term commitment to her subjects that have made Mark’s images landmarks in the field of documentary photography.

Join director Martin Bell and director of The Image Centre Paul Roth for a post-screening conversation exploring the new film and exhibit.

Book Launch for Ward 81: Voices 

Join us to celebrate the launch of Ward 81: Voices, an expanded edition of the original 1979 book, which features previously unpublished photographs, excerpts from interviews with patients and recorded conversations between Mary Ellen Mark and her collaborator Karen Folger Jacobs, as well as new essays examining the influence of their project, including texts by IMC Director Paul Roth and IMC Curator Gaëlle Morel.

Reception for Durga Rajah. I am not the Artist, I am the Photographer: a series of conceptual photo retakes

Join us to celebrate Durga Rajah. I am not the Artist, I am the Photographer: a series of conceptual photo retakes in the Student Gallery. 

Curators in Conversation: Kaitlin Booher and Gaëlle Morel | Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81 

Join IMC Exhibitions Curator Gaëlle Morel and Guest Curator Kaitlin Booher for a virtual talk focused on Mary Ellen Mark's groundbreaking approach to documentary photography and her seminal project portraying the lives of female mental health patients in the Oregon State Hospital (1976). Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81, on view through April 1 at the IMC.

Gerald McMaster & Ming Tiampo on Art in Canada Past and Future: A Conversation about Works by Iljuwas Bill Reid and Jin-me Yoon

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon. 

Free admission (pay-what-you-can donations welcome). Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis; to secure your spot, please email events@aci-iac.ca.

Co-presented by the Art Canada Institute and The Image Centre.

Learn more

CONTACT Festival Launch Party + Spring/Summer Exhibitions Opening Party

Join us at The Image Centre for the launch of the 2023 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and the opening of our spring/summer season of exhibitions. Free and open to the public! 

**In recognition of the ongoing CUPE 233 union strike at Toronto Metropolitan University, CONTACT has decided to cancel the festival launch party**

Special Tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon

Join Vicki Kwon, Associate Curator, Korean Art & Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum, for a special tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon, on view at The Image Centre April 29–August 5, 2023. 

No registration required. 

Artist and Curator in Conversation: Jin-me Yoon with Euijung McGillis

Join artist Jin-me Yoon and Euijung McGillis, Assistant Curator of Photographs Collection at the National Gallery of Canada, for a virtual conversation presented in conjunction with the exhibition Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon, on view at The Image Centre April 29–August 5, 2023. 

Register now via Zoom

Opening Reception and Artist Talk for Katrin Faridani—Interconnected: From the Tap to the Lake and Back

Join us for a reception and artist talk to celebrate the opening of Katrin Faridani's new exhibition, Interconnected: From the Tap to the Lake and Back, in the IMC Student Gallery. The artist will be in conversation with Blake Fitzpatrick, Professor in Image Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. No registration required. 

Recipient of the IMC Student Gallery Production Award - in memory of George Fleischmann 

Special Tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon (in Korean)

Join Vicki Kwon, Associate Curator, Korean Art & Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum, for a special Korean-language tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Jin-me Yoon.  

No registration required. 

Fall Exhibitions Opening Party

Join us to celebrate the opening of a new season of exhibitions, including Stories from the Picture Press. Light refreshments and cash bar available.

Free, no registration required. 

Artist Talk — Louie Palu: Cage Call

Delve into Canadian photojournalist Louie Palu’s series, Cage Call, documenting the living and working conditions of miners in Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec and the formidable industrial architecture of the pits. 

Free. 

Facing Black Star: Book Launch and Panel Discussion

Join moderator Elspeth Brown, editors Thierry Gervais and Vincent Lavoie, and contributors Bénédicte Ramade and Reilley Bishop-Stall, for a panel discussion about Facing Black Star, the sixth installment in the IMC Books series, co-published with MIT Press. Bringing together local, national, and international researchers, Facing Black Star illuminates the staggering range of The Image Centre’s Black Star Collection and explores the expectations, challenges, and results of a decade of research in a key photo agency's print archive.

6–7 pm — Meet the speakers, book signing, visit IMC exhibitions
7–8:30 pm — Panel talk and Q&A 

No registration required for in-person event; seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Unfinished Business: Collecting Canadian Photography 

Noon Time Collection Talk with Christopher Varley and Paul Roth

Join local collector and former curator Christopher Varley in conversation with IMC Director Paul Roth, as they discuss a transformative acquisition of Canadian photography. In 2018, Varley generously donated over 500 photographs from his personal collection to the IMC. Created by various Canadian makers from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these photographs document a wide range of subjects across the nation. This Noon Time Collection talk will explore how Varley acquired pictures over time, as well as the complexities of building a comprehensive collection of historical Canadian photography. 

Free, no registration required. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Opening Reception—Hannah Somers: The Music Sang 'Lean on Me'

Join us to celebrate the opening of Hannah Somers' new exhibition, The Music Sang 'Lean on Me' in the IMC Student Gallery.

Somers creates visual conversations between her mother and aunt, biracial twin sisters adopted into a white family in the 1960s. Through photographs and video, the exhibition recounts the circumstances of the sisters’ upbringing and its effect on their racial and social identities.

Free, no registration required. 

Special Exhibition Tour: Stories from the Picture Press

Explore more than thirty-five stories about historic events and personalities, while learning how photojournalists and press agencies worked together to document the news and distribute images for publication. Led by co-curators Rachel Verbin and Paul Roth. 

Free, no registration required. 

Special Exhibition Tour: Stories from the Picture Press

Explore more than thirty-five stories about historic events and personalities, while learning how photojournalists and press agencies worked together to document the news and distribute images for publication. Led by co-curators Rachel Verbin and Gaëlle Morel. 

Free, no registration required.