Experience the work of a wide range of photographers who have captured the spirit of city streets around the world
OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 10, 2025 /CNW/ - From December 12, 2025, to March 15, 2026, the National Gallery of Canada presents Camera and the City, an exhibition that draws upon its internationally renowned photographs collection to bring together the work of a wide range of photographers who have captured the spirit, rhythm, and constant transformation of city streets.
Featuring 180 works by 106 artists, including Canadians Raymonde April, Ted Grant, Fred Herzog and Cheryl Sourkes, as well as international photographers such as Kwame Brathwaite, Leon Levinstein and Lisette Model, this major exhibition showcases the multifaceted stories and experiences of the city. Through the creative possibilities offered by modernism, conceptual exploration, and documentary approaches, photographers present the city as a dynamic public space of cultural expression, community gathering, protest, and activism.
"This exhibition takes us on a tour around the world and transports us through many decades of city life while leaving a lasting impression," said Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. "It will strike a chord of nostalgia for many of us, especially since our major Canadian cities--Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal--and their evolving urban scenes are well represented."
Camera and the City is curated by Andrea Kunard, Senior Curator, Photographs Collection; Jasmine Inglis, Assistant Curator, Photographs Collection, and Darcy Niemczak, Curatorial Assistant, Photographs Collection. It is divided into various often overlapping sections such as the city as movement, theatre, idea, and community.
City as movement captures the energy and rhythm of urban life through images of crowds, vehicles, lights, and reflections. Artists exploring the city as idea treat the city as a space for contemplation and conceptual inquiry, questioning how corporate interests and consumer culture shape public and private spaces. City as community focuses on human connection and belonging, chronicling everyday life in streets, storefronts, and gathering places. From family celebrations to quiet alleys, these photographs reveal the diverse communities and hidden narratives that make up the fabric of city life.
Camera and the City offers a glimpse into cities that are in constant change and presents the many ways artists have depicted and continue to depict these changes. The exhibition encourages viewers to see themselves in these urban scenes--to recognize shared experiences across generations and reflect on how cities, and the lives within them, continue to change.
A glimpse of the exhibition
Kwame Brathwaite was a photojournalist and activist known for being a major part of the Black is Beautiful movement and documenting life and culture in Harlem, New York. Untitled (Garvey Day, Deedee in Car) (c. 1965, printed 2021) captures Harlem's Garvey Day celebrations in the 1960s, highlighting community pride and the cultural activism at the heart of the Black is Beautiful movement.
Fred Herzog immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1952 and began taking photographs of the Vancouver cityscape a year later. The Kodachrome "glow" that Herzog favored can be seen in Man with Bandage (1968, printed 2009), where a middle-aged man whose chin is covered with a bloody piece of tissue paper, stands at the curb, one arm wrapped with a bandage, the other raised to wave down a taxi.
To learn more about the exhibition, read Andrea Kunard's article in the NGC Magazine.
Public programs
Join curator Jasmine Inglis in conversation with artists June Clark and Clara Gutsche in the exhibition space on Saturday, December 13 at 11 a.m. Free with admission. Drop-in activity. No registration needed. On Saturday, January 24, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., join the curators for a special tour of Camera and the City. Additionally, take part in a dynamic three-part series celebrating the art of street photography presented in collaboration with the SPAO: Photographic Arts Centre from January 29 to March 7, 2026. Visit gallery.ca for more details.
About the National Gallery of Canada
Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all--now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings.
Ankosé – Everything is connected – Tout est relié
SOURCE National Gallery of Canada
For all media requests, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Media and Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]; Pénélope Carreau, Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]
Share this article