Revisit the legacies of documentary photography and discover contemporary voices through four exciting exhibitions on view now at The Image Centre. Plus, participate in thought-provoking talks, guided tours, and a special book sale celebrating the art of the photobook.

Chim’s Children of Europe (1949) (opening party), 2025 © Clifton Li, The Image Centre

Upcoming Events

Scholar Talk with Nadya Bair: Photography Exhibitions and the Magnum Brand
Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 7 – 8:30pm
IMA-307, enter via 33 Gould Street, Toronto
Registration required

This talk looks at the creation of some of the first exhibitions and projects of the Magnum agency in the 1950s—including Magnum’s First: The Face of Time and Chim’s Children of Europe—to demonstrate how such endeavours helped consolidate the idea of Magnum as a group of international, humanist photographers who followed their instincts and values rather than catering to the work of its clients. By looking at the network of curators, publishers, and editors who were formative to the creation of Magnum’s brand, this talk will consider the infrastructure for exhibiting photography at mid-century.

Booked and Browsing | The Image Centre Book Sale
Friday, November 14 & Saturday, November 15, 2025, 12 – 6pm

For two days only, don’t miss your chance to snag incredible deals on a wide selection of photography books! This first-ever in person book sale at The Image Centre features major discounts on exhibition catalogues, photography books, and more. Make room on your shelves and join us in celebrating the art of the photobook, at unbeatable prices, for a very limited time.

Special Exhibition Tour: Magnum’s First & Chim’s Children of Europe
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 6 – 7pm

The Image Centre’s Curator, Gaëlle Morel, will lead a special exhibition tour of Magnum’s First and Chim’s Children of Europe. Join us for the last special tour of the season to get all of the insights into the Magnum photographers and works on view.

Drop-in Exhibition Tours
Every Wednesday, 1:30pm & 6pm
Every Thursday–Saturday, 1:30pm

Exhibition tours are led by the IMC’s knowledgeable docents. Free and all are welcome!

All events take place at The Image Centre (33 Gould Street) unless otherwise noted.

Magnum’s First (opening party), 2025 © Clifton Li, The Image Centre

On View Now

Magnum’s First
September 10 – December 13, 2025
Returning January 14 – April 4, 2026
Main Gallery
Curator: Gaëlle Morel

In 1955, Magnum Photos organized its first group exhibition, Gesicht der Zeit (Face of Time), a powerful reflection of postwar life and resilience. Thought lost for over fifty years, the show was rediscovered in Austria in 2006. Now restaged for the first time in North America, Magnum’s First features seventy-seven original prints by agency members including Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Inge Morath, and Ernst Haas. Presented in its original layout, the exhibition captures a defining moment in the history of photojournalism. Organized in collaboration with Magnum Photos.

Chim’s Children of Europe (1949)
September 10 – December 13, 2025
Returning January 14 – April 4, 2026
University Gallery
Curator: Gaëlle Morel

In the aftermath of World War II, famed photojournalist (and co-founder of the Magnum Photos picture agency) David “Chim” Seymour was commissioned by UNESCO to document the living conditions of children across a devastated Europe. The resulting images formed Children of Europe, a landmark 1949 publication that raised international awareness of postwar displacement and humanitarian need. This exhibition brings together original prints and rare archival material from The Image Centre’s collection, revealing Chim’s compassionate lens and commitment to social documentation. Capturing both hardship and resilience, this much-celebrated series reveals the lives of children in Austria, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland—offering a powerful testament to survival and recovery in a time of profound global upheaval.

Ali Kazma: North
September 10 – December 13, 2025
Salah J. Bachir New Media Wall
Curator: Gaëlle Morel

In North, Istanbul-based artist Ali Kazma presents a haunting video diptych filmed in Pyramiden, a former Soviet coal mining settlement on Norway’s remote Spitsbergen Island. Once a hub of industrial activity, the site now stands abandoned, with empty barracks, classrooms, and recreation halls slowly overtaken by time. Kazma’s contemplative imagery captures traces of everyday life left behind, set against the stark silence of the Arctic landscape. Rather than focusing on the site’s political or historical context, the work reflects on memory, decay, and the endurance of nature through stillness, soft ambient sound, and subdued colour.

Jessica Berger: Lost & Found
October 29 – December 13, 2025
Student Gallery

Lost & Found is a photographic and collage-based exploration of girlhood as a fluid and evolving experience, shaped by memory, identity, and community. Drawing from personal archives, family photo albums, and everyday ephemera, Jessica Berger reimagines childhood rituals through staged portraits and layered compositions that blend the nostalgic with the present day. Together these works reflect on the complexity of growing up, particularly for queer individuals navigating femininity on their own terms. By revisiting the past while embracing the uncertainty of the present, Berger and her collaborators reclaim girlhood as a site of agency, contradiction, and self-definition.

The Image Centre (exterior), 2025 © Andrew Savery-Whiteway

The Image Centre (IMC) is Canada’s leading institution dedicated to the exhibition, research and collecting of photography. Established in 2012 at Toronto Metropolitan University, in the heart of the city, the IMC welcomes visitors to explore the intersection of photography and culture. Through compelling exhibitions and engaging public programming, the IMC showcases work by emerging, renowned, and anonymous photographers, past and present. With a growing collection of nearly 500,000 photographic objects and an innovative scholarly research program, the IMC is also a vibrant hub for the preservation and study of photography.

33 Gould Street
Toronto, ON M5B 1W1
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Accessibility: The Image Centre is fully accessible.