"Souls of St. Clair" Photography Book

About the book

Waves of immigration and its rich indigenous history make Toronto the most diverse city in the world. One big wave of immigration occurred directly after World War Two. Arriving on boats from all parts of Europe, people looked to escape devastation, poverty, and turmoil in a land with few conflicts and many opportunities.

Italian immigrants, like others from Ukraine, Poland, and many other countries, arrived in Toronto at this time and were quickly confronted by a city where customs, language, and climate were different than their own. St. Clair West was a place to seek refuge in the familiar. More specifically, Tre Mari Bakery on St. Clair at Dufferin, a business owned and operated by my family since the 1950s, became a place for people to hear Italian sounds, eat Italian foods, and feel the warmth of the country and people they left behind. As a fixture of the neighbourhood, the bakery is part of Toronto's culinary and cultural history.

Souls of St. Clair tells the stories of people who have lived different lives, but who have shared this street and this bakery in common over the past half-century. Theirs are stories which must be captured now before they, and a part of this city's rich history, are gone.