It’s May, meaning that it is finally time to indulge in thought-provoking camerawork at the CONTACT Photography Festival. With exhibits and art installations showcased throughout Toronto, the annual event brings together local and international artists who are exploring identity, culture, and meaning with every frame.
The festival’s Core Program and Open Call Exhibitions feature partnerships with galleries, museums, and art centers, adding a pop of colour to the GTA. To help you plan your visit, here is a curated guide that highlights nine artists using their cameras to inspire and spark conversations.
Jordan King, Untitled-1, 2020, Polaroid. Courtesy of the artist.
Untitled Polaroid Series
May 1-31, Billboard at Queen St. W & Augusta Ave.
After inheriting a camera from ‘70s drag performer International Chrysis, Jordan King began to use it to document her life behind closed doors. To be more precise, she began to take pictures with her long-time friend Greg Manuel inside her New York City apartment, which was previously inhabited by Chrysis. Through intimate, instantaneous shots, King’s Polaroid series pays homage to the drag performer, who passed away in 1990. More info.
Kiri Dalena, ERASED SLOGANS (47 p49), Erased Slogans Series, 2025. Original Source Photograph: Lopez Museum and Library Archives, Quezon City.
Erased Slogans/Birds of Prey
May 1-31, Billboards at College St and Lansdowne Ave & Dufferin St and Queen St
Filipina artist Kiri Dalena reworks centuries-old pictures with the urge to give a voice to those who were once silenced by political oppression. Both her series Erased Slogans and Birds of Prey reclaim images depicting resistance to government intervention and political propaganda. Some of the images in her exhibits were once used to suggest that the Filipino population was incapable of self-governance. Dalena repurposes these shots to demystify harmful rhetoric against her people. More info.
Rosalie Favell, Terri, 2016, From Series: Facing the Camera: NIGIG Residency Toronto 2016. Courtesy of the artist.
Facing the Camera: TSÍ TKARÒN:TO
May 1-November 30, Onsite Gallery
Rosalie Favell’s outdoor installation comprises photographs selected from her renowned black-and-white portrait series, Facing the Camera. The installation is part of the Favell’s ambitious project, which happens to be the largest documentation of living Indigenous artists and culture bearers. Each picture is an opportunity to encourage the person at the opposite end of the camera to share their personal and cultural experiences, always tying it back to tradition and history. More info.
Caroline Monnet, Creatura Dada, 2016, single channel video (still). Courtesy of the artist.
Creatura Dada
May 7-August 2, The Image Centre
Inspired by the Dada movement, which encouraged artwork that explored the subconscious and the irrational, Caroline Monnet’s film blurs the lines between memories and dreams. In it, six francophone Indigenous women meet at a lavish roundtable, where they connect over their shared cultural heritage. As these women discuss Indigenous symbols and imagery, Monnet captures these singular moments of connection through nonlinear storytelling. More info.
Clara Gutsche, Les Sœurs Clarisses, Valleyfield, 1991. Courtesy of the artist.
Clara Gutsche
May 7-August 2, The Image Centre
Montreal-based artist Clara Gutsche explores the relationship between people and their surroundings through her staged portraits. Her work places emphasis on architecture and how it relates to one’s everyday life, informing one’s own values and interpersonal relations. Breaking the boundaries of traditional photography, Gutsche’s work is all about investigating identity through time and space. More info.
Ana Raquel, GuariChita, 2025, Photo transfer and mixed media on canvas
Guarichas
May 8-25, Back Lane Studios
The Spanish word “Guarichas”, meaning warrior women, perfectly encapsulates Ana Raquel’s photo-textile exhibit. Although the term changed into an insult used by colonizers, the artist wants to reclaim the word’s powerful meaning through her work. Raquel honours her Latin American roots through portraits from her own family and community, offering a piercing look at the women of the mestizaje. She also uses embroidery as a cultural touch to her images, which helps depict the resilient nature of her subjects. More info.
Alison Postma, Guts, From Series: Tender to the Touch, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Tender to the Touch
May 10-July 5, Xpace Cultural Centre
What does it mean to be touched and feel pleasure? Alison Postma’s exhibit invites people to dwell on this question through surrealist art. Each of her pieces explore the intricacies of touch, and how this sensorial experience can be translated into a visual means. Through photos, video, and furniture pieces, her work explores the possibilities of how our bodies’ greatest desires can manifest themselves through dreams. More info.
Christina Leslie, Stephanie, 2020. © Christina Leslie Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery.
Pinhole Portraits and Places
May 10-July 5, Stephen Bulger Gallery
Images that are out of focus tend to get discarded immediately, but Canadian-Jamaican artist Christina Leslie uses them for a greater purpose. Her Pinhole Portraits and Places series goes against the trends in modern photography by exploring the roots of analog cameras. Her blurred shots offer food for thought about race and representation in art history, as well as the power of spontaneity in photography. More info.
Vonny Lorde, Brittany Byrd, 2023
Will You Be My Disciple?
May 16-29, It’s OK* Studios
Vonny Lorde is a boundary-pushing photographer whose work is captured through a lens of identity, power, and presence. Their latest solo exhibit amplifies Black joy through bold portraits taken during visits to places in Canada, United States, and Japan,. With images shot on FP100C, a Polaroid film that has since been out-of-production, Lorde’s photography is candid, raw, and uniquely resonant. Each picture invites the subject to be expressive and unapologetically themselves. More info.
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