Although Toronto’s urban canopy contains over a hundred types of tree, it is dominated by a few key species, particularly varieties of maple and ash. Years ago, the predominant species were American Chestnut and Elm, however, swaths of monoculture have inherent weaknesses, and these trees fell victim to species-specific pathogens. To understand how to build a resilient urban forest, we need to look closer at the one we have, and see the strengths and vulnerabilities it contains.
Our work, ‘Cyanotype Impressions’, brings the urban canopy down to the human scale by capturing leaf images with UV sensitive dye. The cyanotype process was an early form of photography that created crisp silhouettes of objects placed on top of light sensitive paper. This technique was historically used as a tool of scientific inquiry, particularly in the creation of botanical records. Working in this tradition, we have created a proportional snapshot of the species in Toronto’s leaf coverage, illuminated in a three-dimensional cyanotype assemblage.
‘Cyanotype Impressions’ was installed at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto as part of the annual ’12 Trees’ exhibition during winter 2017/18.
Photos by Ricardo Jota.
D&S Projects 