Accession 2015.015 - 2015 acquisition

Paul Till was born in London, England in 1953. He immigrated to Canada at age four. He has always had an interest in photography, taking high school art and building his own darkroom to experiment with various ways of manipulating photographs. Here he practiced solarisation, and hand colouring of black & white prints.

In 1974, Till took photographs at the Bob Dylan concert at Maple Leaf Gardens. After extensive manipulation of the images, he sent them to Dylan, who in turn enjoyed them so much he used one for the cover of Blood on the Tracks (1975). Doing the same thing at Dylan’s 1975 concert, the photos made their way onto the cover of the book Bob Dylan: Songs 1966-1977.

After this success Till's work began to grow. He has continued to shoot album covers, posters, and stage backdrops, especially for musical acts signed with El Mocambo Records. Till has also worked as a freelance photographer for NOW Magazine, beginning in 1982. Because of this position he’s been able to document the Toronto music scene, while also trying new subjects like architecture and art. His work has been exhibited around the world, and some of his work resides in the National Gallery of Canada.