Jorian Charlton’s father gave her bags of 35mm film slides in 2017, and it took her three years to find her way back to these time capsules. She soon discovered the rich intergenerational history captured in her father’s photographs from the 1970s to the late 80s. This archive gave a glimpse of Jamaican-Canadian culture, Black familial harmony and a visual immigration narrative from Jamaica to Toronto. Toned sat with photographer Jorian Charlton and independent curator and researcher Emilie Croning to talk about their recent exhibition, Jorian Charlton: Out of Many, in collaboration with Wedge Curatorial Projects and Gallery TPW. The exhibition is a combination of Charlton’s father’s original images paired with her contemporary lens that reimagines her family’s album. The exhibition was gracefully featured in the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), presented in the photography collection gallery. Here’s what they had to say about their pivotal, visual stories.

Emilie and Jorian in front of an orange backdrop standing beside each other — *Photo: Roya DelSol*

DORCAS MARFO: Set the scene for me. I read that it wasn’t until three years that you opened and looked through the bags of film. What was it about that moment or phase in your life that made you want to revisit the historical archive that your dad gave to you? And what made you decide that it was something that needed more pairs of eyes?

JORIAN CHARLTON: I didn't even go through them right away because the way he just handed them off was kind of random. I literally kept it in the closet. It wasn’t until three years later that I actually opened the bags. I guess at the time, too, I felt like I wanted to refresh my work a bit. I feel like I was just doing different creative shots, nothing that really had big production. I wanted to do a little bit more, but I knew in order to do more you need a team. Just looking more at the film slides, I was like, “Okay, I think I'm gonna really try and shoot film this year.” But as I came across some of the pictures that he had taken in Jamaica, I was like, “I think Ken needs to see these.” I feel like being second-generation, you have such a curiosity about your parents. My dad is a typical West Indian man. I ended up showing some of the slides to Ken and then Emilie.

In 2020, that's when I started shooting film and it just kind of developed from there. When I was in school, any chance we had to be on location, I would prefer that. I didn't want to be in the studio and set up a bunch of lights. With film in general, you have to slow down. Whereas digital, you could just click, click, click away. Even the first roll of film that I shot I'm like, “This is probably going to be trash,” because I just felt like I went through it so quickly that the roll of film has to be blank. When I got the film developed, I was like, “Wow, like this actually turned out well,” and it was my first time shooting with this camera. I didn’t even know what I was doing, but it kind of just happened naturally. That was kind of the process after looking through my dad's photos.

Jorian and Emilie sitting beside each other in front of an orange background — *Photo: Roya DelSol*

DM: Tell me more about the behind-the-scenes for this exhibition project. From your perspective as the curator, what did you see in these photographs that moved you? And how would describe the photography style presented?

EMILIE CRONING: The Ken that she's referring to is Kenneth Montague, who's the founder and director of Wedge Curatorial projects, which is the organization under which Out of Many is presented in collaboration with Gallery TPW in Toronto. When Jorian showed some of those images to Kenneth, and I had gone through some of them, you see that it's more than just the friend with the camera taking pictures of all his friends. I mean, her dad might not like to admit it or might not admit it, but he has an eye for it. It's clearly calculated in terms of some of the compositions and just the way that the photos are framed. Already being familiar with Jorian’s photography and the portraits that she makes as well, there's such a beautiful overlap in the images, as well as the content. You are seeing this intergenerational dialogue between her work and her father's images. From my point of view, seeing both bodies of work, it could be any place, at any time, especially because of the Black folks that are the subject of these photos, from style and pose, and just the way they carry themselves. Also, in terms of location, a lot of it is a little bit ambiguous, the way fashion has certain trends that have come up again. You can see the way Jorian has photographed some individuals, but then there are certain fashion or stylistic elements that could place it anywhere in time, which I think is also really cool.

The curatorial concept was overarching, and it's really about exploring what's considered the aestheticized family album, which goes along with what Jorian was saying––this inherent curiosity that we have for our parents, family photos, old photographs, wanting to know more. Even though in many cases, when you ask them, you're like, “Oh, my God, this is amazing,” and they're like, “Okay, that was just like a random time, who cares.” Our kids will probably do that for us, especially with all the random stuff that we do in our photos. Then also thinking about what these images do in a contemporary context––showing private photos to the public, There's a lot to be said around that gesture. It's these little objects that represent something bigger in terms of photography and photographing everyday block life and what that does for larger communities.

DM: How did you two meet? Where did your paths cross?

JC: My first kind of exhibition, just showing some of my work through Wedge Curatorial Projects. It was curated by Liz.

EC: So I guess it’s really through Liz then. At the time, I just started my contract, which was five years ago, with WCP.

JC: Oh, yeah. I think that's around the time my dad gave me those photos. But yeah, that's how Emilie and I met. And we just kind of kept in touch from there.

EC: Jorian and I started following each other on Instagram. You could tell that we were both like creeping each other because when we both got home, we’re like, “like, like, like, like, like.” I was like, “Oh my God, she's so cool.” Since then, it's just been really great to see how much Jorian has grown into her practice. That shift, as she said, a couple of years ago, is when she really started making that shift to analog photography and being able to see that. Even that first project that she did with Liz––the images that I had seen were photos that she had taken in Jamaica, so less portrait. Afterwards, once I started following her Instagram, she just started creating more and more work. You see how amazing she captures her subjects and the sense of self and agency and really explores different visual references. I think it's just beautiful to see her growing more confident in her work. Not only do we get along as friends, but we're able to work in a professional capacity. Jorian is working on building a personal archive, and family is a huge theme in Out of Many, but also thinking about what family means and aspects of a chosen family and how that entire notion’s fluid.

DM: On the topic of family and making connections to another individual’s family archives, how did it feel to submerge yourself in Jorian’s family lineage? Did that surface family experiences, memories and relationships of your own?

EM: My role as a curator not only is to care for the artists and the artist’s work, but it allows me to also explore certain parts of myself. My mom's side is Jamaican, so they immigrated here in 1980. They don't really go back [to Jamaica], so all I have of that part of their lives are these old photos that my Nana has at her house. So even just going through Jorian’s father's photos, I'm seeing similarities in experiences and in places. There are some photos where I'm like, “Oh, wow, that looks like a photo of my uncle when he was a kid.” There's a photo of her father, and I have an identical photo of my grandfather in the same pose listening to records in the 80s. If I can draw those connections and build that personal history, something's to be said that someone else can when seeing these images.

DM: Now I understand you are a mother, Jorian, so how does this project influence your motherhood, or perhaps your motherhood influenced the project? Can you speak on what this means for your family lineage? Seeing the influence your father’s photos had on you, is there a possibility that a continuation of this will be focusing on your own family and what your history looks like?

JC: I guess I'm kind of thinking about creating my own archive for my kids. Because I know my experience is going to be very different from my daughter's. At the time, when I had her, I was wanting to go to Jamaica to visit family, but things just weren't really aligning. But for my mom, she's been going back home since we were born. Times have just changed. She went back home when I was three months old and went every year. It was easy; you didn't need a passport at that time to travel. So I feel lucky that we've had the experience to go back home and experience the culture and meet their cousins and meet other family members. But my kids won't get that same kind of experience. A lot of my cousins are around my age, and they've had kids as well. None of us have met each other's kids. I think about the new generation a lot and how their experience is going to be.

DM: I remember I was reading your Instagram post, Emilie, where you screenshotted your WhatsApp conversation between you and Jorian. I could just feel the excitement radiating off the screen. Describe the moment. When did AGO come into the picture?

EC: So Out of Many was and still is presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects in collaboration with Gallery TPW. This was intended to be presented at the Gallery TPW space last February, which is almost a year ago now. Before January 2021, we had already dealt with a lockdown or two. And I think within each kind of checkpoint, the ultimate goal was to just get the art on the walls. This time last year was when one of the harshest lockdowns happened, and we had literally just sent the files to the printers to get everything into production. We were unable to put up the show. In a span of two weeks, we created an online exhibition, which is honestly impressive for the timeline. We were able to find people who had little holes in their schedules to be able to jump aboard this project, and I'm just really grateful for everyone's efforts because the question was, “Do we go ahead with this? Are we still going to do Jorian’s work justice?” I've seen a couple of hits or misses with online exhibitions or presentations of work. I'm grateful for the designer––we were working with Una Janicijevic––and the Wedge and TPW team, and still being able to meet our February 6 launch (2021).

One of the strategies we did for the online exhibition to keep people checking out the website was knowing that, after a certain date, the content would be changing. So we commissioned a 3D rendering of a virtual space, which is still on the website right now via a Toronto and Barbados-based designer, Zoe Osborne. That allowed us to visualize exactly what we call “the living room,” Jorian’s father’s photographs. We were thinking of possibly putting the show up again at Gallery TPW when there was room for it, but, especially after a year of working on the exhibition, it just gets a little taxing. We had put up a lot of hype and promotion for our online show, and you don't want it to feel like it's just dragging on.

So fast forward a few months, I got a call from Sophie Hackett, who's the curator of photography at the AGO. She called me after speaking with the director of Gallery TPW and Kenneth to ask if everyone would be open to presenting in person at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which to this day, I’m still processing. On December 18 of last year, the show went up, which gave us enough room for a break. It allowed for us to get everything into production, printed and put up in the space, which included Jorian’s 2021 work. There is an overlap between what's presented online and what's in person, but it's 60% different, which is awesome, and just being able to see the work in person is incredible. One of the things that was also an incredible experience was seeing a lot of the models that are in the photos come into the space and stand next to their photo. How often does that happen? It was extremely emotional. I'm looking forward to when the gallery opens again. I hope it sets a precedent for the possibilities that can happen in an institution like that––it makes it more approachable.

DM: This achievement is groundbreaking. Hearing you talk about Jorian’s work that was rooted and planted by her passion for capturing her experiences and artistic lens is incredibly inspiring. I’m curious to know, Jorian, how this made you feel, seeing your work in a public place as well as other spaces like the Bay Street photograph, the largest installation as part of ArtworxTO? Also, how does it feel to be at this stage where someone who doesn’t know you can have a connection to your work?

JC: I think I'm still shook. I was initially like, “what?” I'm definitely excited and grateful. Like Emilie was saying, after a while, things were kind of just dragging out a bit, and then you're wondering, “Okay, if this is actually presented in person, is it gonna hit the same? Maybe just leaving it to the online presentation is probably best.” When Sophie called Emilie, I was happy that we got to tell the story in person. I feel like I'm new to a lot of people, but, I guess for me, I've been doing this for such a long time that I'm like, “Okay, wow, people are starting to see my work,” and they'll know “that looks like Jorian’s work.” I guess I kind of have a style now that people recognize. I've gotten a lot of sweet messages from people, even from the show when it was first presented online, about how much they connected with the exhibition. I think one person told me they have a family album that they've never really looked through, or they haven't been back home in like a few years but want to revisit it because of me. Just a lot of people connecting to the work and feeling seen makes me feel pretty good. Especially during this crazy time, I didn’t feel like I was really going to be able to create anything. Even with the photo on Bay Street––we had nowhere to even shoot that, and we ended up doing that in my living room. So, to see that on a street when I never thought this was even gonna be printed anywhere. This is just wanting to create something and it kind of became something bigger, literally.

EC: Also, knowing how much of the collaboration is happening in order to produce and make some of these images. The final product is an image that’s on a scaffolding on Bay, but it's an image of three models. Knowing how many incredible people took part in the production and the network of other creatives that are involved and feeding into the Toronto arts community is really cool. There are so many Black artists on a global level and a national level, and then just even within our own city, that are producing incredible work that should be seen and deserve that platform to be recognized. Both in terms of exposure and financially, because we must make sure that people get compensated appropriately.

DM: That last part speaks volumes. I know this is going to be difficult considering the wide range of photographs and the uniqueness that lies within each, but show me some of your favourite photos from the exhibition.