Larry Towell’s career spans an impressive 40 years and this exposition includes his earliest images from his days as a student at York University to some of his best known images from around the world including places like Palestine, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Some have called Towell’s unique way of capturing images as visual poetry. This is exemplified in his technique of shooting only in Black and White with very minimalist subject matter. People, conflicts, emotions, everything that had a story to tell was immortalized. What made Towell stand out from amongst other photographers was his love of home, family and the land he grew up on. Even the names of the photographs have a short description of the moment summarizing the moment captured. Joining Magnum, the world’s most prestigious photo agency in 1988 was a life changing experience for Towell. Some of the members he had met included Alex Webb, Sesan Meiselas and Gene Richards helped him with the editing process and played a significant role the development of his unique visual language. More of Towell’s works can be found at the AGO in Toronto.
