Toni Hafkenscheid

Toni Hafkenscheid is a Toronto-based photographer originally from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In 1989, he graduated from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and shortly thereafter moved to Toronto. He has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Canada, the US, Japan, and Europe.

Hafkenscheid was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, fourteen years after World War II. During the war, the city centre was completely destroyed. Instead of rebuilding the city to make it look like it did before the war, it was decided that the city should look like a North American city with modern architecture. As Germany, the motor of the European economy, underwent an enormous economic recovery, so did Rotterdam. (During that time Rotterdam was considered to have the biggest port in the world). The city flourished, and there was a sense of hope and a belief in a better future.

In this series, Relics of the Future, Toni Hafkenscheid explores our erstwhile visions of an American future as seen from a 1950s to 1960s point of view. He is looking at structures built in that era that represent an idealized view of the future with its belief in technology, a sense of optimism, and a promise of better days ahead.