Torosian, Michael 1952-

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TOROSIAN, Michael 1952-

PERSONAL: Born October 31, 1952, in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Education: Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, earned diploma, 1973.

ADDRESSES: Home—19 Fermanagh Ave., Toronto, Ontario M6R 1M4, Canada.

CAREER: Photographer, 1973—. Exhibitions: Works included in permanent collections at Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, National Library of Canada, Ontario Arts Council, Winnipeg Art Gallery, and other institutions. Solo exhibitions include A Manual Alphabet, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, 1974; Nocturne, Café La Barge Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; Sanctuary, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1979; and Marcus Pfeifer Gallery, New York, NY. Group exhibitions include Exposure, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1975; Latitudes and Parallels, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1983; and A Commitment to Vision, University of Oregon, 1986.

AWARDS, HONORS: Canada Council grants, 1973, 1974, and 1979; Ontario Arts Council grants, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, and 1986.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) The Reflections of Existence: A Selection of Fifteen Photographs by Michel Lambeth, [Toronto, Ontario, Canada], 1982.

(Editor) Michel Lambeth: Photographer, [Ottawa, Ontario, Canada], 1986.

Contributor to periodicals, including Descant, Financial Post, Photo Communique, and Toronto Life.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Michael Torosian: Portfolio 1976, [Toronto, Ontario, Canada], 1976.

Signature 3, Michael Torosian: Nocturne, [Ottawa, Ontario, Canada], 1977.

Lunarglyphics, [Toronto, Ontario, Canada], 1981.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael Torosian is a Canadian photographer who is known for his uniquely discomforting, sometimes experimental works. He began his artistic career in 1973, and by the following year he had realized his first solo exhibition, A Manual Alphabet, which presented detailed renderings of human hands. "Torosian's first works in photography," confirmed a Contemporary Photographers contributor, "were largely concerned with the evidence and insight into human nature afforded by detail."

Torosian followed A Manual Alphabet with Nocturne, a solo exhibition featuring monochromatic Polaroid photographs of women. In these photographs, Torosian distorted both surface imagery and depth by manipulating the exposure and development. As the Contemporary Photographers critic observed, "Torosian strove for and found a richness in the unplumbed depths of Polaroid, makings works pleasing for their sensuality and preciousness."

In ensuing works, Torosian has attempted more expressionistic effects. Sanctuary, for example, features disturbing photographs of people seemingly preoccupied with their own thoughts and feelings. Torosian has also undertaken an equally unsettling series of photographs on nude subjects. The Contemporary Photographers writer found these works "without softness and without compromise" and added that "they glare and they challenge."

In addition to displaying his photographs in solo exhibitions, Torosian has lent his works to various group shows, including Latitudes and Parallels, which was staged in Winnipeg in 1983, and A Commitment to Vision, which ran at the University of Oregon three years later.