Discovering Arthur Goss
From 1911 to 1940, Arthur Goss served as Toronto’s official photographer. He captured thousands of images of the health and social problems presented by urban poverty in early 20th Century Toronto. His specialty in depicting slums highlighted the dark realities that destitute immigrants faced.
As many of you know, Canada was built by immigrants and many of us, including myself, are first generation Canadians.
Goss died in 1940 at a relatively young age, but his work is still widely celebrated.
Michael Ondaatje used many of Goss’ images for his novel In the Skin of a Lion, to obtain a more thorough understanding of the working class experience. He even included Goss as a character in the novel, which I read many years ago, after The English Patient, of course. I loved the character Hana so much that I wrote my own short story with her as the main protagonist for a creative writing course in OAC. I got 100 per cent!
That’s beside the point of this post though.
Goss’ work is currently on exhibit at the Ryerson Image Centre (May 1 – June 2 and June 19 – August 25) as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photo Festival. If you’re in Toronto during this time, I suggest you take it in. I promise you that it’ll provide a more comprehensive education on Toronto’s less than rosy history.
Ryerson Image Centre
33 Gould Street
I possess great compassion and seek to be of service to others. 
