Colouring Toronto’s History
Matthew Blackett engaged local graphic historian Jeremy Hopkin to colourize the oldest known panorama photo of Toronto.
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Mural for the 20th anniversary issue of Spacing, 2024 Heritage Toronto Public History nominee. Mural by Emily May Rose. Courtesy of Matthew Blackett.
Screenshot of “Colouring Toronto’s History” article and the 1857 colourized panorama, 2024 Heritage Toronto Public History nominee. Photograph courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives. Courtesy of Matthew Blackett.
Project Lead: Matthew Blackett
Date of Release: December 3, 2023
Matthew Blackett came up with the idea of trying to modernize the oldest known photo of the City of Toronto. He engaged local graphic historian Jeremy Hopkin to colourize the 13 images from the 1856-57 Armstrong & Beere panorama taken atop the Rosen Hotel. Wayne Reeves, former chief curator of the City’s museum collection, was assigned to highlight significant buildings and structures to give the six-page photo spread historical depth.
There is no specific way to engage communities through a photo montage in a magazine, yet the team believes that the project itself — a super wide panorama — is the ‘hook’ to draw readers into in the feature as panorama photos are a very popular way of capturing images on our phones. While the image may be 175 years old, the idea of the panorama is contemporary and can help merge the two worlds in the minds of youth.
This project gives a chance for residents to reimagine what life was like in this city 175 years ago.
Additional Project Members:
Jeremy Hopkin
Wayne Reeves