Why am I? Why are we?
Eyebrows were raised when I said my last name was Italian: fair skinned, blue-eyed and blonde, I clearly did not look Italian. “You must be from the north”, they would say. I would nod because, in fact, my stepfather’s family was Trevisano.
I’m the seventh generation in a family that immigrated to Quebec from England but was raised in a first generation Italian family. The question for me is not simply “who am I?” but “why am I?” What formed my character – my biology or my culture? Was I Italian? The food I ate and the voices raised around the kitchen table certainly were. Did gnocchi, risotto and brodo di carne feed my body and my soul?
On Becoming
The food we eat, the traditions we hold, the events we celebrate are an essential part of who we become. In Italy, my aunt fondly recalls two extended families eating at two long communal tables. That experience is very different from eating alone in front of the television. (Not judging – I’ve had my share of eating both ways!) It’s these daily rituals that form our memories and our values.
On Being
We are who we are because of (and sometimes in spite of) all our yesterdays. Our being is expressed in the things we surround ourselves with. What do we use? What do we cherish? Objects, like people, have histories -- stories told by the wear, the tarnish, the nicks and chips.
You could say that my images are visual notes, part of a life-long conversation with my self: they are about the traditions that help form us and the connections that become our guides. My work focuses on community and culture, celebrating both our commonalities and the richness of our diversity.
*****
Tracey Suba is a Canadian photographer based in Toronto, Canada. She studied at the University of Toronto, receiving a B.A. in English literature in 1991. Her love of narrative, story and the poetic are evident in the documentary / street style of her photographs. She has been actively documenting the diverse community and culture in her city since 2014.
Exhibitions
Upcoming Jan 2025 "White", Juried Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece
2024, Venice Photo Lab Exhibition, Group Exhibition, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, Italy
2024 Pisa Street Photography International Festival, Juried Exhibition, Pisa, Italy
2024 Happening: Happenstance, Juried Exhibition, ephemere. Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2024 Hart House 102nd Photography, Juried Exhibition, Toronto
2023 Wall of Women by Women, Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2023, Juried Exhibition, Victoria, Australia
2023 Treviso Photographic Festival, Group Exhibition, Treviso, Italy
2023 World Photography Day, Juried Exhibition, Arpana Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
2023 6th Chania International Photo Festival, Juried Exhibition, Grand Arsenali, Chania, Greece
2023 Hart House 101st Photography Juried Exhibition, Toronto
2023 Women Street Photographers, Juried Exhibition, Virtual
2022 DPSP Rainshots Awards 2022, Juried Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
2022 Night Photography, Juried Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece
2022 Treviso Photographic Festival, Group Exhibition, Chiostro di San Francesco, Treviso, Italy
2022 5th Chania International Photo Festival, Juried Exhibition, Grand Arsenali, Chania, Greece
2021 Treviso Photographic Festival, Group Exhibition, Treviso, Italy
2021 4th Chania International Photo Festival, Juried Exhibition, Grand Arsenali, Chania, Greece
2021 Composed, PhotoPlace Gallery Juried Exhibition, Middlebury, Vermont
2020 Women Street Photographers, Juried Exhibition, El Barrio's Artspace, New York City, New York
2020 Women Street Photographers, Juried Exhibition, State Historical Museum, Chleyabinsk, Russia
2020 Davenport Collective, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Group Exhibition, Toronto
2018 Sunderland Hall Gallery, First Unitarian Church, Group Exhibition, Toronto
2016 The Teddington, Group Exhibition, Toronto
2015 Spazio dell'Arte Gallery, Group Exhibition, Toronto
2015 Paul Hahn & Co, Group Exhibition, Toronto
2014 Spazio dell'Arte Gallery, Group Exhibition, Toronto
Recognition and Awards
2023 Commended, Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers, Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year, London, England
2023 Winner of the Bev Best Award for a Photographic Essay, Hart House 101st Annual Exhibition, University of Toronto
2022 Honourable Mention, Paris International Street Photography Awards - Beach & Pool
2022 Two nominations in Children of the World category at the 17th Annual Black & White Spider Awards
2022 Runner Up for William J Dowkes Award for Places, Hart House 100th Annual Exhibition, University of Toronto
2021 Silver Medal, Paris International Street Photography Awards - Abstract
2021 Silver Medal, Paris International Street Photography Awards - Street & Children Series
2021 Nominee in Children of the World category at the 16th Annual Black & White Spider Awards
2020 Nominee for the Patti Fogarty Award, Women Street Photographers, New York City, New York
2020 Winner of the William J Dowkes Award for People, Hart House 98thAnnual Exhibition, University of Toronto
2020 Nominee in Children of the World category at the 15thAnnual Black & White Spider Awards
2017 First Place PhotoLife Magazine's Showtime, December/January 2017 issue vol. 42 #1
Publications
Eyeshot Issue #12 MÉXICO selected by Fermín Guzmán, curated by editor-in-chief of Eyeshot, Marco Savarese, published (2024), Bologna, Italy
Half the Sky: Street Photography From Women, curated by Marci Lindsay, published by ephemere (2023), Tokyo, Japan
Digital Camera Magazine U.K., Stay At Home (COVID), January 2021, issue 237
PhotoLife Magazine, Showtime, June/July 2020 issue vol. 45 #4
2019 Women's History Month, feature on Flickr's landing page Mar-Jun
PhotoLife Magazine, Showtime, December/January 2017 issue vol. 42 #1, First Place
Online publications include BlogTO, MasseyHall.com and roveme.com
Kawartha Chamber of Commerce and Tourism
2015 Dolce & Gabbana's Fall catalogues
For licensing inquiries or print sales please contact me directly.
Please do not borrow or copy images from this website. All images ©TraceySuba
Thank you!