A Year at Allan Gardens on Film: Original Photography Prints at Auction in Toronto

Dissolve
Diana Renelli, 2024–2025
Archival pigment print from 35mm film, Kodak Ultramax 400
17.32 x 23.82 in, framed
In the Hours of Light, Allan Gardens Conservatory, Toronto
One of the 26 prints at auction, October 22

Why so few of us own original art

Most people I meet love the idea of owning original art. Very few actually buy it.

When I ask why, they say it feels intimidating. Galleries are a little snobby. People don't know what things should cost, or how to tell what's worth owning. So they don't buy anything because it's a mysterious world, and so their walls end up full of prints anyone could have.

I understand that hesitation. But I also think something is lost when the things we live with every day carry no story at all. This post is about a project that has been the centre of my creative life for the past two years, and an evening on October 22nd that I hope makes owning original art feel a little less out of reach.

A year at Allan Gardens

From April 2024 to April 2025, I went to Allan Gardens Conservatory almost every week and photographed it using a film camera. The same glass house & the same paths. Every week, give or take a couple.

Not necessarily the same day though. The light varied. Low winter sun slanting through the palm house. The flat grey of a rainy March morning. Summer light so bright it bleached the edges of the leaves. Coming back to the same place week after week taught me to see it differently each time.

The week that surprised me was the week I saw these incredible, flower buds strung along a vine like Christmas lights. I had seen that vine lined up along the glass for the longest time and then suddenly these luscious buds were there. The Lady of the Night. The flower that opens by night and disappears after that.

I shot the whole series on Kodak Ultramax 400, a consumer film most people would associate with family snapshots. I didn't want to be precious about this. I didn't even think that I would have an exhibit. It was a personal experience that I wanted to have so I could get back to connecting and seeing.

The rolls I didn't develop

I didn't develop a single roll until the full year was over. I asked people whether or not I should develop a couple of rolls to make sure everything was going OK, and that question created some angst. Some said yes and some said no, and in the end, I delayed that gratification.

It was like writing a letter to myself every week and not being allowed to open any of them for twelve months. I had no reassurance that anything was working. I had to trust what I saw in the moment and let it go. I really wish I had journalled more, because it's super difficult to remember those moments. But that's another story.

When I finally developed everything, I saw the whole year at once: the light moving through the conservatory season by season, laid out side by side.

That is what the series is really about. Slowing down. Paying attention. Noticing what we usually rush past.

What surprised me was how many photos I ended up with. I had to decide which ones I would keep. In some cases it was easy and in others not so. And what I realized was how much curating the exhibit was part of the process, and how surprisingly difficult it was.

From CONTACT to Hotel Victoria

In the Hours of Light premiered at the CONTACT Photography Festival, shown across three Toronto venues.

Since August, it has been on exhibit at Hotel Victoria at 56 Yonge Street, in the hotel's Mosaic Room, as part of an artist-in-residence exhibition. The show runs until October 30th.

The auction on October 22nd

On October 22nd, I'm hosting a photography print auction at Hotel Victoria, before the exhibition closes.

26 original prints from the series will be up for silent auction, with a couple of statement pieces going to live auction. These are the prints that have hung in the exhibition, not reproductions.

It's meant to be a relaxed evening, not a formal gallery event. You can walk through the work, ask me about any piece, and bid on the ones that stay with you. If you've never bought original art before, this is an easy place to start.

Thursday, October 22, 7 to 9 pm Hotel Victoria, Mosaic Room, 56 Yonge St., Toronto Tickets $25 on Eventbrite (link below), including one drink ticket and a $25 bid credit toward any piece won.

Meaningful work for your walls

An original print does something a mass-produced one can't. It carries a story you'll get to tell every time someone asks about it.

In a home, that might be the piece guests stop in front of, the one that starts a conversation about a Toronto landmark, a year of patience, and film that sat untouched for twelve months.

In a business, it's a chance to show something about who you are. Offices, studios, restaurants and hotel lobbies are often filled with generic art that says nothing about the people in them. A piece from this series gives a space a story rooted in this city.

Join me on October 22nd

If you collect art, love Allan Gardens, or know a business or a home that deserves meaningful work on its walls, I'd love to see you there.

Tickets are on sale now on Eventbrite:

In the Hours of Light Auction @ Hotel Victoria Thurs. Oct. 22 7-9PM