'We The Ward:' Photo exhibit shines light on those living in venerable Guelph neighbourhood

Guelph is a beautiful city but there isn’t any area quite like The Ward, filled with history and vibrant people.

Erik Hay is a local photographer who has lived in the ward since 2009. While on walks during the pandemic he decided to start taking along his film cameras and ask people in the neighbourhood if he could take their photo.

The results of those efforts are a collection of black and white photos that will be on display at an exhibit Hay is putting on at Studio 404 on York Road called We The Ward.

Hay said he has only ever shot film photos in black and white because he develops the photos himself since it gives him control over the final product.

Almost all of his neighbours said yes to having their photos taken and he took more than 250 photos in the past year. There isn’t enough wall space for all the photos so about 37 to 40 photos will be on display and the rest will be in a box at the gallery where people can flip through them.

Hay first got into photography when his granny gave him a Polaroid Swinger camera when he was eight years old. 

Hay was a wedding and commercial photographer but he said it didn't allow him to be creative. After he left photography he became a yoga instructor and has since retired.

“I remember way back before we moved here thinking, The Ward, blue collar, little tough, little rough around the edges. Not at all, it feels very lived in and livable,” said Hay.

He said the combination of colourful history and mixed architecture in the Ward makes it a unique neigbourhood in comparison to others in Guelph.

“It’s a lovely sense of freedom I think that people have down here, and comfort and heritage,” said Hay. “Each street has a story, each section of the Ward has a story.”

Walking around the neighbourhood can lead to conversations about anything, said Hay.

“I think it’s what every community really ideally should be. Out in the open talking to your neighbours, empathizing with them,” said Hay.

“So if anything the photographs that I’ve taken I hope will convey a gentle empathy for everybody. By no means is it like a beauty portrait session. Lots of wrinkled faces. Along with lots of all sorts of interesting and very attractive family groups.”

The Ward had many factories in the 1900s where Italian immigrants lived nearby and worked at.

“It just layer upon layer of stories.”

The exhibit will be on display from April 9 to 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.