Black Eye Books is pleased to announce a brand new incursion into sequential art with this collection from photographer and interactive designer Kevin Steele.
Portraits of Queen West: Spadina to Bathurst takes you on a journey through time and space, capturing the essence of Toronto's Queen Street West across a decade and a half. Let your senses wander as we delve into the core of this iconic neighbourhood, guided by a meticulous geographical and chronological arrangement, and brought to life through the lens of Kevin Steele.
Inside this 8x10 volume, you'll find 162 pages of vibrant imagery. The collection showcases photographs from 2001 to 2017, offering a unique perspective on every address between Spadina and Bathurst. What sets this book apart are the intriguing collages that depict complete city blocks, along with hundreds of individual snapshots. For an extra twist, you can even flip the book to follow the north side from west to east, right into the heart of the center.
The design of Portraits of Queen West: Spadina to Bathurst draws inspiration from both comics sequences and traditional photo books. The careful interplay of visuals creates short, engaging stories within the book. Whether you're a photography enthusiast or a graphic novel lover, this photobook seamlessly blends into your collection, offering a fresh perspective on a beloved neighborhood.
Portraits of Queen Street West is complete and is already in production to go to print. All we need is your support to make it happen. As with previous Black Eye Books projects, we'll be working with our favourite local printer, which means faster turnaround times. We plan on shipping the book in November!
A few sample pages
Interior pages from Portraits of Queen West
The whole book flips and both sides meet in the centre
The front cover to Portraits of Queen West
Flip
the book over for the North Side of Queen Street
Get the Portraits of Queen West Deluxe Edition with Signed Bookplate and Postcard Set
Order the deluxe edition of Portraits of Queen West, and get a 4x6" bookplate signed by Kevin Steele and the set of six 4x6" Queen West postcards, shown above.
Impeccably packaged!
Your copy of Portraits of Queen West will be meticulously packed in a sturdy corrugated cardboard exterior, ensuring its safe and pristine arrival at your doorstep.
About Kevin Steele:
Kevin Steele has been fortunate to have a few creative lives. In this one, he is creating a series of photobooks from the collection of photos he took of Toronto’s Queen Street West from 2000 to 2017. In a previous life, he was a founder and creative director of one of Toronto’s first interactive media shops, Mackerel, from 1989 to 1997. After, Steele continued to work as a designer and creative leader on digital products and experiences. A highlight was working with Rosetta Stone from 2006 to 2012, helping redesign and extend their core product. UI details hand-crafted for the experience by Steele still survive in current versions. Steele currently lives in Saskatoon with his younger brother and three cats.
About Black Eye Books:
From 1993–1998, Black Eye Books published such notable cartoonists as Jay Stephens (The Land of Nod, Atomic City Tales), Nick Craine (Dance Me Outside), Jason Lutes (Jar of Fools, Berlin), Tom Hart (The Sands), Jeremy Eaton (World of Trouble), Matt Madden (Black Candy), James Kochalka (Quit Your Job), Ed Brubaker (Lowlife), Brian Biggs (Dear Julia), and New Zealand's Dylan Horrocks (Pickle, Hicksville). Relaunched in 2019 by publisher Michel Vrana, Black Eye Books continues its pursuit of publishing eclectic and engaging stories told in the form of words and pictures.
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