My Mother's Red Wig Toronto Celebrity Polaroids
In the late 1980ties my mother died of breast cancer in her home in Maine. I was living in Toronto at the time and I went to visit her several times before she passed away. On one of my visits, it was a few days before Halloween, I discovered a lush red wig that she had been using during chemotherapy. I started wearing the wig to keep warm in the chilly north-eastern mid-Autumn, thinking it was really cool to have hair like this, it made me look like some kind of rock star. I entertained my mother by pretending to be whoever was singing on the radio, lip-syncing and posturing for her amusement.
She must have really enjoyed my performances, because she secretly slipped her Red Wig into my luggage. On my way home upon crossing the border into Canada, the customs agent found the red wig in my bag, surprising and embarrassing me. I muttered something about Halloween, and he let me through snickering.
Thus I brought my mother’s red wig to Toronto and wore it to celebrity parties that had been assigned to me to photograph for the gossip pages of NOW Magazine. The wig was a show-stopper, with many fans who wanted to try it on. It soon became a magic wig, that spread joy and brought good fortune to all who put it on.
It occurred to me that I should photograph local celebrities wearing the wig as a tribute to my mother. I found this to be appropriate because my mother was born and raised in Toronto and it was only fitting that her wig would one day grace the heads of some of Toronto’s finest talent.
I spent months on this project. I made Polaroid portraits of Mark Breslin, Patricia Rozema, Gino Empry, Maureen Forrester, Henry Morgenthaler, Shirley Douglas, Charles Pachter, Byron Ayanoglu, Jay Scott, Ed Mirvish, Atom Egoyan and many others, all of them wearing the wig, each in his/her own special way. The project was sponsored by Polaroid. It made for an interesting portfolio that was featured on CBC-TV.
June Callwood, journalist/author
Simon Dresdenere, gallery owner
Wayne Clarkson, founder of the Toronto Film Festival
Jane Perdue, journalist/arts administrator
Harry Rasky, film director
Jennifer Dale, actor
Robert Payne, head Ontario film censor
Ed Mirvish, mega entrepreneur/theatre impressario
Paul Quarrington, author
Arsinée Khanjian, actor
Tobi Stiles, Toronto Zoo director
Sharon Corder, actor/writer
Tomson Highway, playwright/concert pianist
Ingrid Hamilton, journalist/publicist
Rosie Levine, journalist/socialite
Amnon Medad, businessman/gourmet chef
Mark Breslin, comedian/founder of Yuk-Yuk's
Marion Lewis, artist
Chester Brown, comic-book artist
Veronica Tennant, ballet dancer
Dimitri Epides, film-festival founder
Rita Zekas, journalist/socialite
John Frizzell, writer
Irene Grainger, photo-editor
Ivan "Men without Hats", musician
Jay Scott, film critic
Maureen Forrester, contralto/head of Canada Council
Byron Ayanoglu, writer
Catherine O'Hara, CBC commentator
Charles Pachter, artist
Jamie Angell, gallery owner
Jim Plaxton, theatre set designer
Melleny Melody, pêrformance artist
Jim Garrard, playwright/arts entrepreneur
Stephen Levy, founder "One of a Kind" crafts mart
Jane Corkin, photography gallery owner
Patricia Rosema, filmmaker
Edward Roy, actor/playwright
Sheila MCcarthy, actor
Charlotte Dix, film-caterer
John Candy, film-actor
Henry Morgantaller, abortionist
Rob Salem, journalist/socialite
Shirley Douglas, actor
Jiri Schubert, theatre director
Dan Diamond, hockey chronicler
Bob Blumer, gourmet personality
Marlene Smith, artistic director
Gino Empry, publicist
Laurence Acland, photographer
Zuhair Kashmiri, journalist
Leanne Haze, witch
Fred Blaser, press baron
Betty Oliphant, ballet choreographer
Atom Egoyan, filmmaker
Kate Reid, actor
Andy Patterson, artist
Gail Harvey, photographer
Jack Blum, filmmaker
Arsinée Khanjian, again: I love her
Bluma Appel, philanthropist
Michael Hollett, newspaper owner
Ralph Benmergui, TV personality
Patti Habib, night-club owner
Anne Wiganosky, computer whiz
Howard Moscow, politician
Sky Gilbert, playwright/drag queen
Jim Slotek, journalist
Jackie Bourroughs, actor/filmmaker
Leo Schipani, restaurateur
Sylvia Train, gossip columnist
Aristedes Pasperakis, super-chef
Alice Klein, newspaper owner
Jack Layton, politician
Christopher Hume, arts columnist
Live long and prosper. Spock
THESE IMAGES ARE MADE ON POLAROID. ONE OF A KIND AND EACH ONE SIGNED BY ITS PARTICIPANT.
THEY ARE A DOCUMENT OF WHO WAS WHO IN TORONTO AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS "REBIRTH" AS A CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE IN THE EIGHTIES-NINETIES.
THE ENTIRE SET OF ORIGINALS IS FOR SALE TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.
TWENTY PERCENT OF THE PROCEEDS OF THIS SALE WILL BE DONATED TO THE BREAST CANCER SOCIETY OF CANADA, IN MEMORY OF MY MOTHER FREDA KEMEZYS
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Comments
the fascinating effects on the photograph of christopher hume are done how?
Lezlie
My favourites in no specific order: Atom Egoyan, John Candy, Henry Morgenthaler, Leonard Nimoy, June Callwood, Ed Mirvish.
Hey, I think those just happen to be all Canadian except for Spock.
It's precious you were able bring your Mother such joy and fun at a difficult times in your lives.