Mysterious family photos found near Queen and Ossington
Posted June 8, 2017 4:53 pm.
Last Updated February 2, 2019 12:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Laura Rojas is searching for a mysterious Toronto family after discovering a digital treasure trove documenting a decade of their lives.
Rojas’s friend found a memory card at Ossington Avenue and Argyle Street, north of Queen, and lent it to Rojas as a back-up for photos she was taking. When Rojas got home and reviewed her photos, she was stunned to find more than 700 unlabelled images.
“Looking through the photos, there are a lot of family moments that I am dating to somewhere in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s,” she said.
“There’s photos of birthday parties and families playing at the park, babies being born — so many intimate family moments.”
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Update: Owners reunite with mysterious family photos found near Queen and Ossington
Rojas took to the Bunz Helping Zone, a community Facebook group, to start the search for the card’s rightful owner. She says she was surprised and pleased by the enthusiastic response from the group.
“They’re saying that it makes them feel good that if they ever lose something, there might be someone out there who is going to try to return it to them,” she said.
She was stunned by the beauty of the photos, and she suspects one of the men who appears frequently in them may be the photographer.
“Most of the photos are of him and his friends and extended family and personal relationships,” she said.
“There’s photos of camping trips, being in the mountains. I assumed that somebody made an archive of all of these moments and they are probably heavily missed.”
The photos do contain clues. Some show familiar Queen West architecture, the condo-free Toronto skyline, a park that Rojas thinks could be Trinity Bellwoods.
“There’s one photo that shows a house number, and the side street looks very similar to some of the streets near the Ossington area,” she said.
“So, I’m thinking since it was dropped at Ossington and Argyle, maybe the family lives nearby.”
Rojas has been searching side streets for some of the homes pictured in the huge archive. She’s hoping that by sharing them on social media, she’ll be able to track down the family.
“It’s really nice to hear that people also find the photos really beautiful and they’re just as interested in finding out more about this family,” she said.
Do you recognize any of the people or places in these photos? Let us know by email at news.to@citynews.ca, or by messaging us on Facebook on the CityNews Toronto page.
