2021 Director’s Showcase - Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies, University of Toronto (2021)

Mix - by Jamii Esplanade (2021)

Time Pieces (2019)

Choreographed by Marie Lambin-Gagnon

Fall For Dance North at Union Station: An Evening of Tango (2018)

Pan American Food & Music Festival gala night (2018)

Nuit Rose Light Parade (2018)

On street photography, privacy in public places, and small human beings: Why I broke my golden rule

As much as I've been infatuated with street photography over the years, and I haven't shied away from shooting anything and everything, there was one self-imposed rule that I haven’t broken until now.

Ontario photography laws dictate that photographs of individuals of all ages, taken in a public space, are perfectly legal. Selling said photos is a slightly different story but, in a nutshell, there is nothing illegal with capturing people on the streets of Toronto. For the longest time however, I would not share images of children, or any person that couldn't give expressed consent, including the homeless or mentally ill. Even for the few adults that end up in front of my lens, I would--whenever possible--to get their permission when photographing and sharing, and would stop immediately at their request.

I've taken the below photo of this sleepy, fuzzy, and ridiculously fashionable tiny dancer almost a year ago in Kensington Market, and immediately fell in love with it. When I wonder the streets of Toronto aimlessly without a specific anything in mind, camera in hand and finger on the shutter, snaps like this are what I'm looking for.

As much as I loved this image, I struggled to find a justifiable reason to post it publicly. There is a real, ethical dilemma about sharing photos of children with recognizable faces for the world wide web to see, not to mention security implications. But I would like to live in a society where we don't have to wonder whether it's ok or not to share captures of passing beauty and heart-warming fleeting moments like this, because of unrealistic expectations of privacy in public spaces, in Canada, in 2018. Now that I'm the proud father of a 2 month-old baby girl, I can say that I wouldn't be bothered in the smallest, if a stranger street photographer took a similar pic of her and shared to the world with no ill-intentions. Being a street photographer is to capture snaps of real, everyday life, unposed and unplanned, and certain risks should be taken, especially when they are likely founded on our collective paranoia. And I know a thing or two about paranoia now that I have a small human being to keep alive.

That being said, legal doesn't always mean ethical, so should the parents of this little boy were to contact me asking for the photo to be removed, I will do so immediately. It would be unfair and disrespectful to him and his parents to ignore their wishes, just because I'm Ok with images of my own child to be taken in public and shared online. That is precisely how paranoia starts.

Slow Dance (2018)

Choreographed by Marie Lambin-Gagnon

House Guests - Corpus Dance Projects (2017)

I have  been following the work of Canadian dance/theatre group Corpus Dance Projects for the better part of the last decade or so, since I had a chance to experience their Peep Show installation for Nuit Blanche many years ago. I was thrilled to be given the chance to shoot their latest project, coinciding with their 20th anniversary, House Guests.

Shot over three preview performances, the images below are only a handful of selects from this innovative, at times frenetic, but always intriguing, site-specific show that ran from Nov. 21 to Dec 17, 2017. It's rare that I end up with too many keepers from any live or sports event—I usually pray the photography gods for a dozen usable shots or so. This was one of those rare occasions and I had a hard time selecting even the 30+ below. Enjoy!

Jamii Esplanade - FEETPRINT documentary screening (2017)

Photo essay: Markham & Pacific Mall

Boring story short: The in-laws were out of town over the Thanksgiving weekend, and we had to house-sit/pick up produce from their backyard garden. Between giant slabs of cheap BBQ pork and a million pounds of fresh organic tomatoes, I also took some pics. 

All photos taken with the ancient (by digital camera times) Fuji X-E1 and the 7artisans 25mm f1.8 lens. This combo is not only cheap, but has become my new fun every-day camera setup. The film-like rendering of the first X-trans sensor plus the manual focusing and general corner-fuzziness of the toy lens is really a throwback - but the tiny pancake lens is really sharp in the center.

 

Photo essay: CNE 2017

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE, or The Ex, as we locals call it) has marked the unofficial end of the summer in Toronto since forever, and I haven't missed one since I moved to this city 15 years ago. It's crowded, it's loud, dirty, and everything is a cash grab, including the over-the-top food selections like fried butter (?!), but none of those are really why my wife and I go visit every August. It's our yearly chance to walk around the grounds like a pair of 8-year-olds, with a corn dog on one hand, cotton candy on the other, and ignore that you're an adult with responsibilities for one night, because definitely–most definitely–you totally have a chance to win that giant Pikachu.

La Machine (2017)

Street performance in Ottawa for Canada 150