Bio
Kenneth Straiton was born in Toronto, graduated from University of Waterloo with an Honors BA in Social Psychology. In 1973 he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to study architecture, but soon left to study film, eventually settling on a career as a photo-artist. Meanwhile he worked as a carpenter, taught photography, and traveled extensively. The 1982 series "Quiet Idols," was shown in Canada, Japan, Europe and USA.
In 1984 Straiton moved to Tokyo, where he worked for 26 years in commercial and corporate photography, magazine features, and on his personal projects.
From the time he arrived, the city of Tokyo became the main focus of his personal work. The exhibition "Tokyo Stories", was shown first in Zurich in 1992, has continued to evolve. Further Tokyo projects evolved, revolving around the built environment, focusing on its interaction with vernacular life and culture: "One Hundred Views of Tokyo" and "Tokyo Street Level".
Straiton has also worked for over 20 years on documenting the disappearing cultures and landscapes throughout China and Southeast Asia.
A series about traditional Japanese design, "Japanese Elements” became the book "Japanese Design: A Collection", by Kenneth Straiton is in its second printing: by Weatherhill in N.Y. and Yohan/ICB books in Japan.
Since returning to Toronto, Canada in 2010, Straiton has been at work on another project on the landscape and built environment of the vast transitional region surrounding Toronto, where farmland and nature are transformed into tract housing, warehouses, and chain retailers.
Selected CV
Exhibitions
1975 "Exposure," Art Gallery of Ontario (group)
1979 Presentation House, Vancouver (two-person)
1980 Oakville Centennial Gallery (solo)
The Photographer's Gallery, Saskatoon, Canada (solo)
1981 "Instantees," Musee National d'Art Modern, Pairs (group)
1982 Gallery Wide, Tokyo (solo)
Presentation House, Vancouver (solo)
1984 Gallery Focale, Nyon, Switzerland (solo)
Zeit Foto Salon, Tokyo (solo)
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (group)
1985 Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver (solo)
1987 Oakville Centennial Gallery, Canada (solo)
1988 Toronto Photographer's Workshop: Harbourfront (solo)
1992 Museum fur Gestaltung, Zurich (one-man)
1993 Embassy of Canada, Tokyo (solo)
1993 Uber die Grossen Stadte, Berlin (group)
1999 Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo (solo)
Japan Foundation, Toronto (solo)
2000 Oakville Galleries, Oakville (solo)
2002 Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
Case Studies, Harbourfront Center, Toronto (group)
Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo (group)
2023 Cities in Flux, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, (group)
Collections
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Bank, Ottawa, Canada
Polaroid Corporation, Amsterdam
Museum fur Gestaltung Zurich, Switzerland
Musee d'Art Modern, Paris
Seattle Arts Commission, USA.
Vancouver Art Gallery
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Canada
Oakville Galleries, Canada
Publications
1980 British Journal of Photography Annual (portfolio)
1982 Pentax Family, Tokyo, (portfolio)
Nippon Camera, Tokyo (portfolio)
1984 British Journal of Photography (portfolio)
Nippon Camera, Tokyo (portfolio)
Foto Magazin, Munich (portfolio)
1986 Nippon Camera (portfolio)
1993 Nippon Camera (portfolio)
1993 Tokyo Stories, (exhibition catalogue)
1993 Der Altag, Zurich (portfolio with critical essay)
1995 Nippon Camera (portfolio)
1999 Nippon Camera (portfolio)
1999 Canadian Art, Toronto (essay)
1999 Nippon Camera (portfolio)
1999 Japanese Design: A Collection, Weatherhill, New York (book)
2001 New Tokyo Life Style Think Zone, Tokyo (portfolio within book)
2023 Toronto’s Interzone: Visual Explorations of an Uncertain Landscape,
to be published in “Uncertain Landscapes: Beyond trans-disciplinary
approaches”, by Springer, 2025.
Grants
Awards received from Canada Council for the Arts, Japan Foundation.