Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places

Uncommon Places is a landmark series of photographs by American photographer Stephen Shore (b. 1947, New York, NY). Taken over the course of multiple road trips across North America between 1973 and 1981, this series played a pivotal role in establishing the importance of colour photography as a fine art form.

During his travels, Shore photographed intersections, parking lots, buildings, interiors, landscapes, objects and people, defining a photographic vernacular rooted in everyday Americana. Through Shore’s lens, such seemingly mundane subject matter becomes uncommon—framing, composition, colour, clarity and perspective work together to create a world of compelling images in which we see ordinary matter anew. Shore’s approach to the series is marked by a contemplative, attentive and detached quality, shaped by his use of a tripod-mounted, large-format camera that facilitates precision, sharpness and vivid clarity. Uncommon Places was originally published as a book in 1982.

Following a major gift from the Chan Family of eight hundred and one photographs from the series, the Gallery’s collection is one of the most comprehensive representations of this highly influential body of work held by any museum in the world. Together, these works offer insight into the development of Shore’s photographic approach, as well as the thematic strands, range of subjects and formal concerns that unfold across the series. Alongside iconic images of life on the road, this exhibition foregrounds Shore’s photographs from Canada and highlights his encounters with the people he met along the way who shaped his journeys.

Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places is part of the 2026 Capture Photography Festival Featured Exhibitions Program.