A Prelude To Lost Boys
Photographed by Alex Ramadan
Curated by Paul Di Palma and Colleen Oldfield

Creatures Creating - 822 Dundas St W Toronto
December 23rd 2013 - January 2nd 2014

@pauldp @euphoricole @alexramadan @creaturescreate

The Lost Boys Photo Series follows a group of young men as they navigate the gay party scene in Toronto. It is about the experience of self-discovery, while being engrossed in a world of fantasy, and the cracks that appear. Drugs, sex, and music are all avenues to find, express, and lose yourself. These avenues play a role in the search for identity, and define ideas of community and friendship for these young men. This work examines the interplay between culture and identity, and the correlation between self-discovery and pervasive pervasive group ideals, and the role of fantasy.

Toronto is considered one of the gay world capitals, and yet, there is very little work to show for it. Church Street - the main street in the ‘gayborhood’ - is not the anchor to the community that was in the 70’s or early millennium. This is partly because the need for a safe haven is no longer a need in the modern world. The cultural role that the area represents is waning; it seems to be viewed as a more shallow, party-centered version of itself. The importance of this project is that it can serve as a historical document of a concrete time and place in this constantly shifting and growing community.

48 photographs, suspended in wave formation, are organized into 3 tiers. The first and foremost tier displays familiar scenarios through non-incriminating photographs taken from the street. More intimate and private matters are explored in the following waves. The second row takes a step into the characters homes, a bridge to the disorienting party scene represented in the final wave, which may be otherwise inaccessible to the audience.

A Prelude To Lost Boys was originally installed at the Ryerson Closer Gallery, and allowed for visitors to circulate between the thread walls. 

Lost Boys was published in Vice Canada online, on November 12, 2013

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/lost-boys
Search #LostBoysStreetGallery to see more