Park Closed: David Wile's Aerial Photography Series That Captured Toronto's COVID Silence

In the spring of 2020, inspired by a walk through Toronto with his daughter, commercial photographer David Wile looked down at the city from above, and saw something no one had ever seen before.

Parks, empty. Playgrounds, silent. Skateparks, basketball courts, swimming pools, all of them perfectly designed for human gathering, and completely devoid of people.

The result was Park Closed, a breathtaking aerial drone photography series that captured Toronto's recreational spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Geometrically precise, eerily beautiful, and quietly heartbreaking, the images have stayed with people long after the parks reopened.

A birds-eye view of a city in pause

Wile, a Toronto-based commercial and fine art photographer with over 20 years of experience, has photographed everything from people to products across the globe. But Park Closed is something different, a deeply personal response to a moment in history that no one was prepared for.

The series spans some of Toronto's most recognizable recreational spaces, from High Park's outdoor pool to Lamport Stadium, from soccer fields to the Aviva Centre. Each image is starkly geometrical in the absence of humanity, a quality Wile says was intentional.

"My intention for the series is to help people reconnect with past memories, reflect on the current reality of their city and contemplate the return of sporting events, and a sense of normalcy, to Toronto," Wile has said of the work.

The series was featured by BlogTO in January 2021, where it quickly captured the imagination of a city still living through the very reality it depicted.

Yes — that Splash Works

If you've stumbled across David's work while searching for a certain water park at Canada's Wonderland, welcome — you've landed somewhere far more interesting. One of the most striking images in the Park Closed series features the Splash Works water park, photographed from above during lockdown, its slides and pools utterly empty on what should have been a summer day full of laughter. It's a haunting image precisely because of what's missing.

Now at Dimensions

We're thrilled to welcome David Wile's work to Dimensions Custom Framing & Gallery on Queen Street East. A new print from the Park Closed series is coming to the gallery: a piece that belongs on a wall, properly framed, where it can do what great photography does: make you stop, look, and feel something.

David's prints are produced on acid-free archival inkjet photographic rag paper, museum quality, built to last. And of course, if you'd like to discuss custom framing for a David Wile print or any photographic work, our team is here to help.

Come see us at 1626 Queen Street East, Tuesday to Saturday.