A Walk Through Little Poland is a personal journey that evolves into a broader narrative exploring identity through place and culture. Interweaving photography, archival images and interviews with locals, I have returned to the place of my birth, searching for a part of myself along the streets, in the storefront windows and inside the many Polish shops. Not only am I returning to the place where I was born, I am also exploring my cultural roots. This is a Polish neighbourhood, and I am part Polish.

My walk is a metaphor for the journey of immigration, and the physical act of movement from one place to another. The Polish people who live in Roncesvalles are mostly immigrants, and they have walked much farther than I. Their migration path stretches across an ocean, mine around a city block. By walking I am making a connection with the space around me, but I am also constantly displaced. This reflects the displacement of immigration.

Roncesvalles, like many communities in Toronto, is constantly changing. It is becoming increasingly gentrified: new cultures and families are moving to the area, new beliefs and customs are being formed. Polish businesses are closing and the first generation of Polish immigrants is getting older. My walk signifies a journey where the past frequently intersects with the present; it is a rediscovery of what we already have, and a way of looking at something that normally eludes our recognition and appreciation. I seek to create a narrative that invites exploration, an exploration of what we have yet to find.

A Walk Through Little Poland is a book. For the exhibition I chose to have pages from the book represented on the wall. Each spread is a separate object, but also references the book and its narrative. The design and sequencing within the book provide a specific context: they enhance the relationships between the images, reflect the rhythm of my walk, and form the overall meaning of the project.††