R.I.P. Boris Spremo
Toronto’s first peek at the $100,000 sculpture was obtained when Star photographer Boris Spremo sprawled at Nathan Phillips Square and stuck his camera inside the protective case, 1966
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Boris Spremo was a news photographer, born on October 20, 1935, in Susak, Yugoslavia and died yesterday in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 81. Spremo graduated from Belgrade’s Cinematographic Institute, and almost immediately immigrated to Canada in 1957, settling in Toronto. In 1962, he joined the staff of the Globe and Mail but in 1966 left for a position with the Toronto Star, where he remained for over 30 years. Spremo photographed dramatic news events including the Vietnam War and the plight of Kurdish refugees during the Iraq War in 1991. Boris was also well known for his portraiture of entertainers, royalty and politicians as well as many stunning images of Toronto, notably, his death defying photographs of the construction of CN Tower in 1974.
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Spremo’s photographs have been published in books dedicated to his work, including Boris Spremo: Twenty Years of Photojournalism (1985) and Boris Spremo and His Camera Look at Toronto (1967).
Toronto Public Library is honored to house many of Spremo’s photographs as part of our Toronto Star Photo Archive, housed in the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre at Toronto Reference Library.
We are very pleased to share some digitized versions of his work from our Digital Archive in this blog, which is intended to highlight the wide variety of subject matter Mr. Spremo captured throughout his career.
Royalty:
Princess Diana, Halifax, 1983
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Princess Diana and Pierre Trudeau, 1983
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Charles, Prince of Wales, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, 1996
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Royal Family at the Princess of Wales Funeral, 1997
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Sports:
Wayne Gretzky, 1990
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Clyde Gray of Toronto, Canadian and Commonwealth welterweight boxing champ, 1973
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$450,000: That’s what jockey Sandy Hawley expects to earn this year. 1973.
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Steve Fonyo, 5 AM, 20 miles east of Summit, 1985
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Jim Harrison, Maple Leaf centre, scrambles for puck with Andre Boudrias of St. Louis Blues, 1969
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The official opening of the dome ushered in a new era for the followers of sports in Toronto, 1989
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Politicians:
Mikhail Gorbachev and Brian Mulroney, 1990
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Barbara Hall, 1994
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Metro chairman Paul Godfrey, 1973
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Mike Harris, 1997
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Ambassador Averell Harriman: Speaking at Canadian Press annual dinner, 1966
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Mimico Mayor Hugh Griggs, 1966
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Toronto:
CN Tower construction, 1974
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While thousands of people watched yesterday, the flashing red light atop the 1,815-foot-high CN Tower was replaced with a 200,000-candlepower flashing strobe light, 1982
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The attractiveness of the City Hall complex puts into sharp focus what we lack in other parts of the city, 1972
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Workmen erecting the steel base for the new Top of Toronto restaurant at the Sky Pod level last year grinned back at photographer Spremo balanced on a steel girder just above them, 1974
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Conflict:
Iraq border, food arrives to Kurdish refugee camp, 1991
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Isikveren refugee camp, Turkey-Iraq border, 1991
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Vietnam, 1972
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Vietnam, date unknown
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Entertainers:
Phyllis Diller, 1983
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Leonardo Dicaprio, 1994
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Ella Fitzgerald, 1985
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Jane Fonda, 1970
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Sir John Gielgud at the Royal Alexandra, 1972
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Farrah Fawcett-Majors, 1978
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2 thoughts on “R.I.P. Boris Spremo”
Thank you, Eric, for such a wonderful blog about the very talented Boris Spremo. I heard him talk about his life and career a few years ago at a photography show in Toronto, since my husband admired him and was keen to go to his talk. I became an instant fan of Boris Spremo, and I am very sorry about his death. There is a touching tribute to him from his fellow photojournalists in the August 22, 2017 Toronto Star:
https://www.thestar.com/photos/toronto_star_photo_blog/2017/08/boris-spremo-legendary-toronto-star-photojournalist-passes-away-.html
Thank you for your comments Muriel. It was a pleasure to work on the blog and his work speaks for itself.
Eric