A History With David Cronenberg

Today is the anniversary of my 2005 session with director David Cronenberg.

He was promoting his first collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, “History of Violence,” we even shot at a location akin to the one in the film’s opening scene.

About two miles from where I grew up in Toronto there were some low-rent motels along Lake Ontario. I found these places fascinating - they looked like modest resorts that you find in cottage country, but they existed alongside the urban space of the city. Rundown, but with an optimistic veneer, they encapsulated the tension between the fun ideal, and the rough edge of reality.

Cronenberg clearly saw something similar in the spaces. And brought them to full effect in his film. So it felt only natural to bring him here for our session.

The motels were torn down a couple of years later, replaced by high end condominiums, but David and I will always have our fun memories of these exciting and seedy places.