Kevin Steele

Funded! Thank you, all!

Preorders and contributions are still welcome, of course !

OK, Bluesky people. I need a few more preorders and my current project is funded. YOU could be the person who carries Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 across the finish line.

Why this photographer is creating a Queen Street West time capsule Kevin Steele’s newest book, Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 captures the neighbourhood just before dozens of businesses shuttered forever

www.torontotoday.ca/local/arts-c...

DRAKE YOU HO was late 2005. I have pictures of this address before this date, but when I saw this graffiti, I didn’t have a camera with me—and I didn’t make it back in time.

MANY people did get the shot, and I'll find a way to include it when I get to that book.

1092 - 2001.01.06 & 2005.10.27

😬

Oh dear, no one tell the AI.

At the base of the new building! I took a picture in September!

I stand corrected — though it IS on the edge of the Queen West I cover, which begins at Simcoe St.

Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 (3 posters & a book!) Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 presents every address from Simcoe St to Roncesvalles Ave in panoramic photocollages. Part of Portraits of Queen West, Kevin Steele’s 20-year photo and book project do...

I am running a crowdfunding/preorder campaign until Dec. 4 for a new book and poster project featuring an end-to-end collage of Queen Street West taken in the summer of 2015 and assembled recently.

crowdfundr.com/queenwest2015

A collage of six Starbucks storefronts displays various architectural styles, from historic brick buildings to modern glass facades.

All the Starbucks on Queen Street West in the summer of 2015.

→ Some were close enough together that it felt like there was a Starbucks every two blocks.

→ Today, there are no storefront Starbucks on Queen West.

Details from "Queen West Complete, Summer 2015"

#documentaryphotography

A detail from Queen West Complete, Summer 2015

A couple of blocks in Parkdale.

#photography

1042 Queen St W, Summer 2015. Vertical image. A straight-on shot of one of a row of old two-story brick buildings. This shopfront and one next door are boarded up. This shop has a mural that fills the plywood space, of a man holding a salmon in front of his face, as if he hopes to eat the fish. The boarded-up shop next door has event posters.

1426 Queen St W, Summer 2015. Vertical image. A straight on shot of a row of connected 3-story brick buildings, with ground level storefronts. This “slice” has the Skyline Restaurant at its base. The second floor has a large window slightly taller than wide. The third floor has a large arched window lined with decorative brick. Neighbouring slices are similar but varied.

2 Spadina at Queen St W, Summer 2015. Vertical image. It is a very square two-story urban McDonald’s that is built to the edge of the sidewalk, on a street corner. The sky is blue.

Text above: Ten years ago, I shot every address on Queen West. I’ve assembled the pictures into a series of continuous collages of Queen from Simcoe to Roncesvalles (4.6km) Now I’m making a book and three posters from this work. The centre shows an example page from a proposed book, Queen Street Complete, Summer 2015. The book features two matched and opposite collages of each side of a city block, with the addresses of the shopfronts in red below the pictures. The images are arranged so that page has to be turned to see the other side of the street upwards. Text below: Learn more, pre-order: Https://crowdfundr.com/queenwest2015 Text in a starburst: Digital Edition Available! Support POQW for as little as $10!

I made a one-of-a-kind, complete record of Queen West ten years ago, as part of a much larger project.

🗓️ 20 days left to preorder a book or poster, to help make a print run happen.

👍 At 50% of goal.

🔥 Preorder a digital edition & support for as little as $10.

🔗 Link in bio to preorder & info

Queen West Complete, Summer 2015, is the latest work from Portraits of Queen West, my project documenting over 20 years of change on one of Toronto’s most iconic streets.

Pre-order book or posters to help bring this work to life & contribute to the project, overall.

Please share.

Link in bio.

Panoramic view of an urban street with historic brick buildings. Shops and cafes line the sidewalk, with bicycles parked out front. Blue sky above with thin clouds.

Queen West from Euclid Ave to Palmerston Ave

Detail from Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 – a series of continuous collages of each side of the 4.6km length of Queen West.

I'm making a book & 3 posters.

Pre-order/crowdfunding link in bio. Please share and help bring this work into the world.

I made this post when it looked like they'd win, not once victory slipped away.

Days later, it doesn't feel like the Blue Jays lost.

They didn't win the championship, but they won everything else. They were part of a legendary series, and new and old fans are excited for 2026.

A set of collages of the faces of all the city blocks on Queen Street West in Parkdale, Toronto, in eleven rows stacked vertically. It starts at Dufferin, looking to the south side and continues to halfway down the page at Roncesvalles, then continues on the North Side, back to Dufferin. A title at the bottom reads "A SUMMER DAY IN PARKDALE" with smaller text that reads "Queen Street West, July 31, 2015"

This is a near-final assembly of the Parkdale poster.

All the pictures were taken on one day. I captured the south side in the morning and the north side in the afternoon.

These are the times when no parking is allowed on those sides of the street.

#documentaryphotography

Queen West Complete, Summer 2015 presale/crowdfunding campaign is now live!

The book will feature the complete work, a snapshot in time of a 4.6km stretch.

Three Posters:
North side — Roncesvalles to St. Patrick
South Side — Simcoe to Roncesvalles
Parkdale — Dufferin to Roncesvalles, both sides

Panoramic street view of historic brick buildings of an entire city block under a clear blue sky. The image is a photocollage made up of multiple photos taken from across the street. Various shops with colourful facades line the sidewalk. Trees and pedestrians are visible.

Detail from Queen West Complete, Summer 2015: Brock to Noble

I’m creating a book & 3 posters from this work. The crowdfunding/presale campaign describes the book & posters, & goes live tomorrow.

crowdfundr.com/queenwest2015

I’ll be featuring many of these blocks over the coming weeks.

Blue Jays keep on Blue Jaying.

A sample two-page spread from a book showing linear panorama photocollages of both sides of a street for a few city blocks. One set of collages is upside down, so that the whole page could be turned around to read it. Addresses are labelled under the storefronts.

Whew! It took 2 years, but I've built all 70 city blocks that make up "Queen West Complete, Summer 2015!"

I'm making a book and 3 posters.

The book design (below) is an homage to Ed Ruscha's Every Building on Sunset Strip (1966).

Crowdfunder launches on Nov. 4

crowdfundr.com/queenwest2015

I remember shortening variables in a HyperCard script, just to get the stack to fit on an 800k disk.

I just installed a piece of software that was a 1 GB download and takes up 3.5 GB on disk.

I can't help wondering how much of that is just bloat. What's in a modern app that takes up so much space?

Street view of three adjacent buildings in an urban setting. Monty's Grocery, a Tim Hortons, and another storefront, under a partially cloudy sky. Under the image, there are labels for the street addresses, 1482, 1480 and 1478. The middle building, at 1480, has signage on the third floor that reads 1478Q Lofts.

Can anyone please explain?

The signage at the top of this brick building reads "1478Q Lofts"

The street address is 1480 Queen St W. The grey building next door is 1478.

I'm bothered by this because my label below is correct, but the sign makes it appear as though I've made a mistake.

#Toronto

And she’s been asking for a radiator to this day!

Street view of two storefronts. Left: Blue "Dentistry" sign is removed and faded, over an empty storefront with a FOR LEASE sign; right: Black "Love Shop" sign with heart. Mannequins in lingerie and a Canadian flag are in the window of the Love Shop. Two pairs of people walk past.

1478 & 146 Queen St W

2025.10.04

Street view of a building with "Family Dentistry on Queen" and "Lumicrest LED Lighting" signs. Flower baskets add colour.

1478 & 146 Queen St W

2016.07.11

Street view of a family dentistry clinic at dusk. A blue sign with a cartoon tooth hangs above large windows, revealing a person inside the warmly lit unmarked gallery space next door.

1478 & 146 Queen St W

2015.11.30

Facade of a vacant urban storefront with faded blue signage and large "For Lease" signs. A streetcar is partially visible on the right.

1478 & 146 Queen St W

2015.03.16

Street view of a 99¢ Zone Plus store with a snow-covered sidewalk. The entrance displays various colourful items, and a person stands near the doorway, a cigarette in hand.

1478 & 146 Queen St W

2011.02.05

Storefront with "99¢ Zone Plus" sign, featuring a Canadian maple leaf inside the O. A man in shorts walks past, with dresses and colourful items in the window.

Queen Street West near Lansdowne

1478 & 146 Queen St W, 2006-2025

2006.06.17

#documentaryphotography

Extremely wide panoramic photo collage, divided into four segments and stacked, depicting a series of urban street views with park area, a long mid-rise building, a small section of Victorian buildings, trees, power lines, and clear blue skies. This is the CAMH facility in Toronto.

South side of Queen from Shaw to Dovercourt, 2015

I've built the last segment of my complete record of Queen West in the summer of 2015.

It was a challenge keeping scale consistent and finding points along the plane at the back of the sidewalk to align to.

Now to put all 4.6km (x2) together.

Pape Avenue, Toronto, 2024
#photography
#toronto