UrbanToronto is pleased to announce long-time forum contributor Albert C as the winner of the second annual Jasonzed Photography Award!
Last year, UrbanToronto created the Jasonzed Photography Award in collaboration with Karen Zytynsky to honor her brother and one of UrbanToronto’s most prolific and enthusiastic contributors. Jasonzed – or Jason Zytynsky as he was known in the real world – spent many years capturing the evolving development scene in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly in his home base of Mississauga, using both his drones for great aerial shots and his various cameras for ground-level ones Views. UrbanToronto and the world lost Jason to mental illness in 2021. Karen shared Jason’s experience with us, which we detailed in this tribute article. Please read it if you haven’t already.
Together with Karen Zytynsky, UrbanToronto created the Jasonzed Photography Award in the hopes of…
- Annually brings Jason’s story to light to help people suffering from this stigmatized disease
- to recognize Jason’s contributions to UrbanToronto
- to honor other members who contribute so much to UrbanToronto, particularly through photography
Our first Jasonzed Award winner last year was UrbanToronto Forum contributor Tim Macdonald, fellow Mississauga resident and fellow drone enthusiast, who has been keeping UrbanToronto readers up to date on projects across the western GTA for several years.
For this year’s award, we wanted to expand our scope beyond drones, beyond members, and include photographic contributions to the forum more generally. The UrbanToronto staff considered several forum contributors – some of whom could be future winners – but couldn’t find anyone to thank more formally this year than our long-time member AlbertC, whose real life name is Albert Chen.
Albert Chen, Karen Zytynsky, Craig White and Edward Skira
Albert has been a member of UrbanToronto since April 2007 and has posted to our site 21,318 times in the years since, with most of those messages containing photographs. Albert posts extensively about projects in Toronto’s West End, where he lives, but also beyond, and has kept us up to date on everything from single-family home conversions to multiplex cinemas to Toronto’s bigger, splashier skyscraper projects, which more Attract attention.
Albert is a detail person when it comes to the city and that appeals to us. Without being particularly flashy, Albert’s photography typically captures solid buildings in good light and carefully framed, keeping our members updated on the latest advances. Below is a selection of his photos, mostly from 2023…
like this shot from Oscar Residences,
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
this one from XO Condos,
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
this one from 57 Brock,
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
This is one of the cranes on the Galleria grounds at Park Tower III,
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
This is one of the future pools at the new Wallace Emerson Community Center.
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
This is a metal escape staircase that will be connected to the listed 30 Powerhouse building.
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
…and this is a church-to-condominium project at 260 High Park Avenue.
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
I would like to end with a “sparkling” image. This shot by AlbertC during a Jays game last summer dramatically captures the construction of Concord Adex’s Canada House condos emerging through the partially open roof of the Rogers Center as late-day sun illuminates the skerry-like clouds above. It’s a great recording that only exists in Toronto.
Image by AlbertC, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
In addition to Albert’s own photographs, he also connects many photos from the developers’ online sources to the forum, ensuring that we don’t miss any updates, even if other members don’t see them directly; It’s a benchmark for community engagement that reflects what UrbanToronto is all about…
…and for all of these reasons, Albert Chen is this year’s recipient of the Jasonzed Photography Award. We thank him for the thousands of posts with thousands of photos and renderings and project updates over the years that have kept us informed. Our thanks to Albert include a cash prize of $500, an additional $500 will go to CAMH in memory of Jason Zytynsky, funds provided jointly by UrbanToronto and Karen Zytynksky.
We have many more contributors to thank over the years, you could be next! If you’re on the UrbanToronto forums and see one of AlbertC’s many posts, please give him a thumbs up!