UNION STATION at Stephen Bulger Gallery (1356 Dundas West). To October 14. bulgergallery.com.
The city is in the midst of an $800 million revitalization of Union Station, a mammoth construction project that is years behind schedule and over budget.
By now, the 200,000-odd commuters that pass through the transport hub on most business days are well familiar with construction hoarding, diversions and signage on Front Street, but Canadian photojournalist (and former NOW contributor) Larry Towell managed to negotiate rare access to shoot behind the scenes during key aspects of what’s known as the “dig down.”
Between 2013 and 2015, Towell took periodic breaks from his usual gig covering conflict zones around the world to document the complex undertakings happening out of sight, as well as the seemingly mundane scenes in the station’s public spaces.
The photos are now on display as part of the exhibition Union Station at Stephen Bulger Gallery. We rang up Towell at his home on a farm in rural southwestern Ontario for the story behind the five 35 mm-shot photos featured in the show.
This image was taken in an early stage in the revitalization known as the dig down. Workers excavated several metres below the station’s previous floor to create space for transit concourses and a pedestrian mall. The machinery on a 45-degree angle is installing braces to hold a retaining wall in place that will prevent earth from collapsing during the dig. In the background are columns that hold up Union Station. In all, 447 columns had to be replaced. “They would dig down beneath the column, pour new footing and then pour a new column to meet where they’d cut off the old one,” explains Towell. “They did that 447 times.”
Larry Towell ©Larry Towell / Magnum Photos
2013. Union Station. Commuter in the historical Great Hall walks by
“Red Caps” (baggage handlers) stand.
When Union Station opened in 1927, baggage handlers – known as “red caps” – were an essential role. This image shows a passenger walking past black grease stains marking where the porters sat on a bench and leaned against the wall in decades past. “Those grease stains are the ghosts of baggage handlers from the 20s, 30s, 40s,” he explains. Towell shot this photograph in 2013, shortly before Via Rail laid off 24 red cap porters and created the new position of station attendant. The counter on the right side of the image is where the station attendants now stand.
Larry Towell ©Larry Towell / Magnum Photos
2014. Union Station. Shaft of light.
After negotiating access to the construction site with the contracting firms hired by the city, Towell had to take safety courses. He was accompanied by a minder on his first few trips, but on later visits he wandered away from the construction noise to photograph in quieter areas. “I would find these shafts that could be elevator shafts,” he says. “It was a huge, complex area of mostly emptiness, pipes and rooms and gauges.”
Larry Towell ©Larry Towell / Magnum Photos
2013. Underground construction site at Union Station (Dig Down).
This photo captures a progression in the dig down process. The workers in the foreground are standing under the old floor with the new columns in the background. “As I continued to go back, the place turned from this to what looked like a shopping mall with no people in it,” says Towell. According to the city, column replacement on this scale is rarely undertaken while a building is fully operational.
Larry Towell ©Larry Towell / Magnum Photos
February, 2015. Construction at Union Station.
In addition to images of construction and tools, Lowell’s show captures passenger comings and goings since Union Station has remained open – and continues to operate – throughout construction. Some of the photographs capture light entering the station at specific times of day, highlighting the casual nature of people in transit taking a break or waiting. This shot of a pigeon taking off as commuters enter the lower concourse level should be a familiar sight. “Part of the project was capturing the people who passed through Union Station,” says Towell. “People outside, people moving among the chain-link fences, construction and the mud and the mess – the things people complain about.”
kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie
