The Chinatown & Greektown Experience in Toronto — Street Photography with Blake Ferguson
- Blake Ferguson
- Jun 9, 2014
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 28
Date Published: 06/10/2014
Date Edited: 06/03/2025
For those keeping up with the blog thus far, you know the thrill acquired from street photography sessions in downtown Toronto, Ontario. Well, sit back, rest assured as another set of cityscape images comes complete as I left the previous photosession feeling insufficient. That being said, after concluding the second set of urban explorations, I still do not think it could ever get old, to spend the day in the city, orchestrating street photography images I could be proud of.
After acquiring this Sony A300 from my good friend Ben Cowderoy, he helped me unlock a new level of photographic excitement. While composing these images, it is safe to say I am not grasping the directions of the city, more or less just going with the flow, as with the camera glued to my face, I let others lead the way while my senses do not articulate. The last street photography session was solely about the architecture and cityscape that Yonge & Dundas Square had to offer, leading me to slight disappointment as I did not grasp the feeling of the grunge and grit I was primarily hoping for.
This time through, we left the bounds of Newmarket, Ontario, and ventured to the same route- running through the subway and popping out at Yonge & Dundas Square. Experiencing the culture and liveliness of the city on a weekend enhanced the excitement, considering life in Toronto, but boy, it was packed. Throwing it down in the Yonge & Dundas Square- there were live performances such as the Mighty Fire Juggler and Fire Breather, who were quite photogenic for a portrait.
In terms of direction, we did not have any concise plans other than soaking up the city life itself, but we made a general conclusion to adventure in a different direction than our first trip. While previous travels led us to the Heart of Toronto, where we were led through the Times Square of Canada- encountering the Toronto City Hall Building and the Nathan Philips Square, which being from in Newmarket, Ontario- was extraordinary, where I found myself at a strange to the level of luxury and class.
The Greektown Experience in Toronto, Ontario
While trekking through Greektown, Toronto, with my Sony A300 DSLR, it was fascinating to see how the city orchestrates communities for those in cultural identities, not to segregate or exclude, but to have them intertwined. Experiencing how Greek Canadians get down in Toronto has a small taste of the Greek Culture, but from a concrete jungle type perspective. Seasoned with culture, yet modernized with an aesthetic and bright essence.
Greektown centres along Danforth Avenue, particularly between Broadview Avenue and Pape Avenue in the east end of Toronto. It is one of the largest Greek communities in North America and a vital part of the multicultural identity residing in the city today. The Danforth arose in the early 20th century. The Greek community began to flourish in the 1950s and 1960s, due to immigration following political unrest and economic hardship in Greece.
Many Greek-owned businesses, especially bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and shops, helped shape the area into the culture. The influx turned Danforth into a thriving cultural enclave by the 1970s. Greektown is known for preserving and celebrating Greek heritage, language, and customs. It hosts the annual Taste of the Danforth festival, one of the largest street festivals in Canada, attracting over 1 million visitors. The area showcases Hellenic architecture, community centres, and churches like the St. Irene’s Greek Orthodox Church.
Greektown is renowned for its Greek cuisine, particularly souvlaki, spanakopita, gyros, and loukoumades. Many businesses in the area are family-run and have been part of the community for decades. The area also blends in new international restaurants, boutique shops, and cafes, making it a dynamic commercial strip.
The area remains vibrant and diverse, while still maintaining strong Greek roots. It has also become a destination for film shoots, walking tours, and culinary tourism. Accessibility is easy via TTC Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth subway) with stations like Broadview, Chester, and Pape right on the Danforth.
The Chinatown Experience in Toronto, Ontario
Moving throughout Greektown and Chinatown came a fascinating culture, street scenes articulated through intertwined communities, like residents from a small, suburban town, who all knew each other and their stories. Throughout Chinatown, plenty of LED signage caught my attention. Witnessing these sparked my imagination to what these city streets of Toronto looked like at night— so cyberpunk!
Toronto has multiple Chinatowns, with the largest and most well-known centred at Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West. It is one of the largest Chinatowns in North America by size and population. The area is a hub for Chinese, Vietnamese, and other East Asian communities, with immense cultural, culinary, and economic contributions to the city.
The origins of Chinatown trace back to the late 19th century, when Chinese immigrants began migrating to Toronto. The original Chinatown formed around Elizabeth Street, but much of it was demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to make way for the new City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square. These events led to the relocation of the current Chinatown on Spadina.
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Chinatown is a major cultural landmark, reflecting the immigrant experience and the resilience of the Chinese community in Toronto. The area is known for its festivals, such as Lunar New Year celebrations, lion dances, and the Toronto Chinatown Festival, hosted annually.
While easily depicting our small-town spirit, we wanted to avoid getting caught up in being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Especially as a teenager with a new DSLR camera, though it may be cheap, I was hungry and on the hunt for continuous photographic street art.
Surrounded by high-rise, executive buildings and the ambient noise of in-demand traffic, cast between shadows and the soaring summer sun. Lingering in an area more for residents and business, we were overwhelmed by hectic drivers and road rage. All the little excitements we do not experience back home in Newmarket, Ontario.
Continuing our adventures in the concrete jungle, while aiming to feel the newcomer scarce in back streets and/or unwelcoming areas, we found ourselves smelling the fresh air wafting off the Toronto Harbourfront. What smelt like the ocean through exhaust fumes and city waste- although it sounds worse than it is, the city air is not all that fresh. That said, the smell becomes more distinctly crisp the closer you approach the Harbourfront of Downtown Toronto, Ontario.
As my first experience at the Harbourfront, overwhelm runs through me, as I was convinced right then and there- it was my calling to make a substantial annual salary because presumably, lifestyles like this were luxurious. It depicted a picture of a Canadian Miami, where there were seadoos and boats in the water circling the majestic cityscape of Toronto.
It was very well planned, structured, and had surreal elements. Considered as a small-town hobbyist photographer, brought a similar feeling, such as Grand Theft Auto or other video games, where planning was precise. While returning, we came across the Old City Hall of Toronto, which reminded me. Sometimes, subjects and captures peak my mind, while in the city, overwhelming runs through my veins with sheer excitement. I feel pressure to capitalize on the trip, acting like I do not know when I will be returning.
That being said, after this Image, I conclude that each trip should be composed with a concise focus- where, if I were thinking more about architecture photographs aside from street and cityscape, I would have been more prone to capture the lavish essence of this building. As you can tell, my focus was everywhere among all things street photography, high-rise cityscapes, tourist-like features, while primarily pondering street art and graffiti, where I was pleased with this trip and capturing a few outstanding street art images.
Moving further throughout, we had the opportunity to soak in and appreciate murals, graffiti and other wall markings. Living in Newmarket, Ontario, in 2014, the town is well, but the population does not extend to the same artistic sense or integrity as in Toronto. Whether city-permitted or considered vandalism, I find the level of self-expression at more intimate, respectable levels, compared to my outlet of fine-art photography.
For those familiar with my creative biography, know my creative capabilities, but I lack confidence in general drawing. Furthermore, as one from a well-kept, quint-like town of Newmarket, Ontario, a lack of graffiti and murals aroused an interest I wanted to explore more in person. Understanding the creative vision and practice required to reproduce sketches through paint on a brick wall was credible. Among artistic pieces articulating beauty, though it comes in the eye of the beholder, bring stories that resonate or symbolic messages that underlie, where the same considerations persist in fine art.
While pulling off some actual shopping, stopping for food- you know, what non-photographers and normal people do- the day escaped, whereupon we returned, we were slightly late. Night struck the city, where another first experience occurred. The City of Toronto is primarily business and fast-paced during the day, but when the sun began to set, zen and tranquillity continued to linger. Patterns of unfilled rooms clash with rooms where those who work long into the night. The vibrant colours of the CN tower orchestrated cyberpunk vibes as I managed to pull off this handheld capture with my Sony A300 DSLR Camera.
Once again, city excursions in downtown Toronto yield amazing sights and urban explorations, where I am introduced to the soul of the concrete jungle even further. Each street photography session in the 6ix keeps me fascinated, but when I believe I have seen it all, new sights present and new excitement and creative ideas flourish.
Wrapping up this writing on a similar note to the first. I will be back for you, Toronto!
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Sources and Citations:
Greektown:
Source: Tsimicalis, Alexia. Greektown: The Heart of Toronto’s Hellenic Community. University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Source: Multicultural History Society of Ontario.
Chinatown:
Source: Ho, Evelyn. Toronto’s Chinatowns. Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1991.
Source: Chan, Anthony B. Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1983
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