Farewell to the Jerk

Glinda #2 - click to enlarge

Last year Ruth Gillson, Russell Brohier, Olena Sullivan and I photographed a fashion show/fundraiser at the Real Jerk,  of performers who’d be participating in Caribana. This resulted in a series of images I called the Four Glindas. I go back to these images a lot, because I am, immodestly, quite pleased with them. I think they were some of the first where I captured the mood of performers preparing for an event, oblivious to the photographer. I have some dressing room images of performers at the Montréal Burlesque Festival last year that I like for the same reason.

Sadly,  the Jerk will be closing. A condo is planned for that corner of Queen & Broadview, and the owners were given 30 days to vacate. I’ve eaten there from time to time, and it’s impossible to walk past the place without drooling – the aroma coming out of the kitchen is something in itself. This is probably the beginning of gentrification of one of the last ungroomed diverse (and affordable) areas in Toronto. We can probably only hope it doesn’t turn into another Liberty Village. And that the real Jerk resurfaces somewhere new.

Here are images from that shoot. Click on the icon at the lower right of the gallery to enlarge them.