Alden Cudanin has been inspired to offer a view of Toronto’s history mixed in with what we see today.  His then and now photographs combine the old with the new.  His blending of two images giving us unique insight into how things have changed, how things could have been were some changes never made, and a general feel for the past while keeping the present in perspective.

 

In 2007, Alden took his craft of "Then and Now" photography and jumped into Rephotography by putting together his first hybrid photograph which was later featured on the Toronto Blog Torontoist.  Soon thereafter full features of his work could be found posted on Torontoist and blogTO  which also lead to a weekly feature on the  Spacing Toronto blog.  Once featured the CBC 6 O’clock news,  iDesk reporter Mike Wise called Toronto Before “A great insight of how our city use to look or how it might have looked if our historic buildings not been torn down”.  Other notables include a mention on CNN’s iReport “Looking into the Past” segment and solo exhibits at Toronto’s Insomnia and Rivoli Lounge.

 

Alden’s first photo book, Toronto Before: A look into the Past was created as a mother’s day gift for his mother in 2012.  Limited edition prints were released in late 2013 and sold to raise funds for the recovery efforts in the Philippines after Typhon Haiyan devastated the country in that year.  The 2nd edition to Toronto Before: A look into the Past is currently available and can be purchased online at Burb.com.