BEING THERE: Portraits from the Toronto Art Community, Dimitri Levanoff

Dimitri Levanoff is a Toronto photographer who has been taking and developing pictures since his youth. In addition to his personal practice, he is well-known in the Toronto art world, and beyond, as the owner of Image Foundry, a studio specializing in custom photographic services and related projects that he launched in 1998. As a small operation, Dimitri works very closely with numerous artists, gallerists, curators, institutions, and other professionals in the field, forming friendships and a sense of community along the way.

A fitting launch for Koffler Arts’ newly renovated gallery space, Koffler301, a venue that will focus on Toronto-based artists, this exhibition features a selection of over 20 portraits of some of the artists and collaborators with whom Dimitri has worked. Begun in 2015, this series was partially inspired by a famous photograph of British painter Francis Bacon in his studio, and he developed his approach through a series he shot during the pandemic of local small business owners in their shops.

As Dimitri is familiar with each sitter, each photo shoot had a casual atmosphere, collapsing the distance between photographer and subject. Rather than formally posed, the sitters are positioned comfortably in the familiar environments of their studios, homes, or workplaces. Clear, straightforward, not overly staged, relying upon existing light, no photographic tricks or gimmicks, the pictures are not meant to idealize or mythologize the sitter, or pretend that these people are anyone other than who they really are. They are devoid of artifice, pretention, or any of the cliché’s and conventions often associated with commissioned, commercial, or celebrity portraiture.

Numerous pictures are taken during each session and sitters are allowed input into the final selection. Then, as a professional master printer, Dimitri adds elements in post-production, subtly adjusting a range of tones, textures, and contrasts, to conjure a timeless ambience and warmth.

Most of the subjects are figures publicly known for their accomplishments in the Toronto cultural world but they are not depicted as un-relatable, larger-than-life figures, or ‘brands’. The images project an authenticity that transforms them into icons of the everyday. They are real people; there with us; part of our community.

David Liss, exhibition curator

Artist Statement

My personal work is largely informed by a consistent, multi-decade drive towards discovering techniques and frameworks that I hope result in objects of numinous quality. The images in this collection therefore can be understood as an exploration into the methodology of creating an icon by using photographic tools.

Towards this end, I chose to photograph people from the art world: artists, gallerists, curators, and so on. They are a mix of friends, collaborators, and clients.  The context of having a personal, tangible connection with my subjects is the key here, along with the forced “mundanity” of the backgrounds.

This selection includes photographs that I consider successful at capturing the sensation I aspire to, as well as photographs that strike the opposite tone. This is intentional and required to map out the spectrum of possibilities.

Dimitri Levanoff

For media inquiries please contact Melissa Than mthan@kofflerarts.org.