By: Natalie Clark
When the quaint and beloved Westdale Theatre closed down in early 2017, residents of the Westdale community and many McMaster students were especially upset. Although fairly run down, the Westdale had been the community’s hot spot for Friday night dates, Hollywood’s must-see films and the best popcorn in town for as long as anyone could remember.
On Feb. 14, the Westdale community celebrated the long-awaited re-opening of the Westdale Theatre. Guests were told to dress in period attire for a special event accompanied by cocktails and a screening of the 1942 classic, Casablanca. The event also featured a silent auction, where guests could explore the new and improved venue while admiring local Hamilton art.
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With searchlights lighting up the night sky and a red carpet gracing the floor of the doors of the theatre, the Westdale certainly dressed to impress for their grand re-opening. The 350 ticket event sold out in two weeks.
For the past 30 years, the Westdale was owned by an elderly man in Toronto. It wasn’t until he passed away that his family put the theatre up for sale, allowing new owners to claim the theatre, known as the Westdale Cinema Group.
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“An enormous amount of changes were made… the theatre was in terrible condition, we spent 2.5 million dollars restoring it,” mentioned Fred Fuchs, chairperson of the Westdale Cinema Group.
“Besides equipping it with state-of-the-art projection, screens, new seats, new sound, new acoustic panelling, we also had to completely redo the air conditioning and the heating, the electrical system, the roof, the bathrooms — it was a complete overhaul of the entire theatre,” said Fuchs.
About two years later, the Westdale Theatre is back open for business, and the community is thrilled. Westdale resident and Silhouette alumnus, David Simpson, had one word to describe the re-opening event, “fabulous”.
“I think that the re-opening will be great for Westdale and for McMaster too, creating a hub for the community,” said Simpson.
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Members of the Westdale community are thrilled about the re-opening of the theatre but are also admiring the other advantages that the theatre welcomes to the community.
“It’s wonderful to see it revitalized, and to see hundreds of people in the theatre is great,” said Vivian Lewis, a member of the Westdale community.
“I think that the theatre is going to bring a diversity of films to the community,” mentioned Lewis. “Right now in Hamilton we just have lots of box theatres that are showing the same thing on every screen, and so this theatre will be our chance to see more art films and more alternative films that aren’t currently available in Hamilton.”
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Aside from standard film movies, the Westdale Theatre will also be hosting frequent live music shows, talks, performances and other special events.
“I’m excited about the idea that it’s not just a movie theatre anymore and that it’s also performance based,” said Sue Trerise-Adamson, another Westdale resident.
“I think that is a really good idea, and it expands all the possibilities of the theatre… I think it’s a real anchor for the whole community of Westdale,” mentioned Trerise-Adamson.
Westdale locals have already begun visiting the theatre for their regular screenings and are grateful to have the theatre back in the community.
Experience the new and improved Westdale Theatre on your own and check out all available screenings and shows on their website: https://www.thewestdale.ca/now-playing/
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With a summer of tour guiding behind me, I’ve seen the other side of the tourist experience. And I’m not so sure I liked what I saw.
As months of work made the novelty of my workplace diminish a little, it became more and more evident to me how people experienced their visit.
I had been enthralled by my surroundings at the outset; I was working in Parliament, which was something a political nerd like me found thrilling. But I knew that I would return every day, while the majority of our visitors were at Parliament for a couple hours, perhaps only in Ottawa for a day.
I watched as thousands of people went through the building, day in, day out. And even if they weren’t inside, I saw them roaming around Parliament Hill and its surroundings. But what struck me about these hordes of tourists was how they chose to interact with their setting.
Sure, Parliament is a pretty recognizable building. I understand the instinct to pose in front for memory’s sake, for an entry in the family photo album. But I was surprised that people were inclined to do so while missing the real thing.
Visitors would snap hundreds of photos over the course of a visit. Not just one photo for each new spaces, but photos of every angle, every inch of the place. And yet, in doing so, they lost the opportunity to understand what it was they were seeing. Explanations were offered; guides were always on hand, taking people to all the sights. But the explanations were ignored in favour of composing their shots.
These tourists didn’t actually see what they came to see—they experienced it all through a lens.
I wondered what people were going to do with these photos. I’d imagine them getting home, bringing their memory card full of photos to show to their friends and family. They’d sit down, open the files, and then be at a loss for what it actually was they were looking at.
Maybe my imagination was a little ungenerous. Naturally, not everyone has the same interests, and things that I find fascinating may be boring to someone else. People don’t go on vacation for purely educational purposes. But in seeing how these tourists reacted to Canada’s most recognizable landmark, I had a sinking feeling that mine wasn’t the only experience with the photo-tourism phenomenon.
It’s something I can see upon logging into Facebook, too. The photo albums of friends’ trips around the world prove to me that I’m just as affected from the other side of things. It’s nice to see where my friends travel, and what they noticed while they were there. In seeing their photos, even without context, I can to some degree understand their experiences from a distance. And I’m sure for them it’s nice to be able to relive a little of their travels when they get home as well, be it immediately after or years down the road.
Although I get the gist, the whole thing seems, well, two-dimensional. Photos can’t tell you the stories of the places you went to; the little quirks and interesting details won’t show up on your screen.
I wish I could have taken away those tourists’ cameras this summer. Maybe it would have made them actually see what they were looking at.
I’ve been carrying this camera around for the last twelve hours. It’s brown, made of plastic (with a rubber inlay) and has a built-in, non-removable fisheye lens. It prints onto 35mm film. To be perfectly honest it looks and feels and like a toy. This is the charm of Lomography.
Put simply, Lomography is a company that specializes in creating quirky, compact, affordable and uniquely inspired analogue cameras. I’d like to emphasize “unique” because I’m fairly confident that there is no other way to acquire a film camera with four (or eight, or nine) lenses in a grid pattern, all capable of taking sequential action shots and leaving your friends asking which editing program you had to use to get those effects.
The multi-lens camera line, while arguably the most popular, doesn’t even scratch the surface in the grand scope (get it?) of Lomography’s products. Other notable mentions include pinhole cameras, panoramic cameras, and even a hand-cranked video camera to produce retro silent films. For the analogue photography aficionados (I’m sure you’re out there somewhere), there is a wide selection of nicer cameras with minimal but effective aperture and shutter-speed selection settings, as well as a line of varied films for different print styles.
The history of the Lomography company is almost as cool as the products they sell, so bear with me for a century. In 1914, LOMO was founded in Russia to produce cameras, lenses, and weapon sights during the First World War. They later underwent a few corporate name changes and began to focus on high-end lens development, but not before leaving behind the Lomo Kompakt Automat or LOMO LC-A.
Jump ahead to 1991, when a pair of Viennese students picks up the LOMO LC-A in an old-school camera shop and fall in love with the highly lit and unpredictable nature of the analogue gem. The boys start up a company to recreate the camera, and spend the next two decades rapidly expanding as their retro empire grows into a sprawling cultural phenomenon. Now, with a substantial online following and stores all over the world, they have succeeded in keeping film photography around and appealing (for the time being).
Lomography seems to be a hit or miss topic with most people I’ve spoken to over the last few weeks. The common responses to my condensed summary are “you can still buy film?” or “why wouldn’t you just get a digital camera?” The first question is actually not as laughable as it might seem. The last few years have been a whirlwind of sharper, more user-friendly, and more affordable digital cameras. 2012 was the year of dumbed down and highly accessible “vintage photo effect” apps, with Instagram eventually emerging as the crown jewel. In light of all this, it’s almost surprising that a market for analogue photography still exists. This brings us to the next question: why?
It’s the same reason you can still find a record player and vinyl records with relative ease: something about it was worth hanging on to. There is often an argument made for the quality of film prints, but it’s becoming impossible to compete with the digital camera, so what is it? I chalk it up to nostalgia and the surprising, unpredictable nature of film. It’s the sunspots and slightly excessive exposure that make memorable photos, and analogue photography preserves the element of surprise that digital photography has spent years eliminating. Nostalgia speaks for itself - unless of course you think your grandkids will appreciate the wistful magic of clicking through thousands of your ancient Facebook albums.
Is Lomography flawless? No. It doesn’t offer digital clarity and you have to buy film pretty often. These are the things that have turned a generation away from analogue photography, but they are also the endearing qualities of a unique art form that isn’t ready to be laid to rest just yet. Pick up one of their cheaper cameras in the Toronto store location or via the website if you feel like giving it a shot, and spread the word: newer is not always better.
Brody Weld
