Over the past three years, I have added to my photography portfolio with professional-quality portrait and corporate photos that reflect my high standard as a communications specialist. My photography complement my communications career as a writer, editor, and fact checker.
Expanding to a Visual Medium
Like everybody else, I was impacted by the COVID pandemic lockdowns and Ontario’s (and Canada’s) March 2020 transition to stay-at-home orders and isolation. As depressing as those days were, they rekindled my lifelong interest in photography, if just so I had something to distract me from the loneliness. I had first acted on my interest in high school, when photography was still on film. I took a photography class in grade 11, using a hand-me-down single-lens reflex (SLR) 35mm camera from my step-father. I learned how to operate the camera–F-stop, shutter speed, along with film types,–and to develop the film in the school’s dark room. In university I took an introductory film class in which we shot our projects on slide film but had processed in stores. Again, I used the same hand-me-down SLR. But by the time of the lockdowns, the world of photography had predominantly transitioned to digital technology, so I went online and ordered my own camera, a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) 35 mm camera, with two lens ideal for zooming and portrait shots.
Over the next two years, I completed the digital photography certificate at George Brown College, with most of the courses taught online. Courses were focused on lighting, flashes, a processing–unique to digital photography. I have already written about my photography education and early attempts at portrait photography (see this link). However, I have continued performing portrait photography both on my own timeand occasionally for my corporate employer’s digital and print publications, for whom I photographed conferences and executive profiles.
In 2024, Ontario’s regulatory engineering body, Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) transitioned to a hybrid structure for its annual general meeting (AGM) after four years of online AGMs. PEO’s CEO/registrar poses with an award-winning engineer (left) and with Ontario’s attorney general, along with PEO’s then outgoing and incoming presidents (right), whose roles transitioned at the AGM. Meanwhile, the AGM’s keynote speaker ended the day’s events.
The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies–Ontario, which represents consulting engineering firms across Ontario, held a day-long conference at McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg. The event opened with an Indigenous smudging ceremony (centre), continued with a panel discussion in the morning (left), and ended with a keynote speaker by the dean of engineering at Lakehead University.
Black Engineers of Canada, an engineering advocacy organization which seeks to highlight the accomplishments of Black engineers in Canada and in crease Black engineer representation, held its annual general meeting in Oakville in 2024. Panelists addressed attendees (left), who mingled after the event (centre and left).
Every year, PEO hosts the Order of Honour (OOH), which acknowledges the volunteer support of many people, most of whom who are engineers. Many engineers volunteer their time on PEO Council, committees, and other efforts. Their volunteer commitment helps PEO to successfully regulate engineering in Ontario. The OOH was held in Toronto.
I photographed many stories for PEO’s external-facing media, including a one-time PEO president (left) who chaired PEO Council meetings that determined how engineering would be administered in Ontario. For the same public-facing publications, I photographed Ontario’s then-minister of labour at Toronto’s The Mall (centre), a downtown retail, office, and condo development which was then under construction. The minister’s press conference highlighted PEO’s licensing changes to more readily recognize international engineering training and experience. And I photographed PEO’s employees for internal publications, such as at PEO’s holiday festivities in December (right).
Finding People to Photograph
As my photography skills improved, I continued to offer performers in Toronto complimentary headshots. Headshots by an accomplished photographer aren’t cheap, and many performers aren’t blessed with infinite financial resources. I tapped into my connections in Toronto’s burlesque scene. Indeed, I had started this during my George Brown education, but now I was gaining confidence, In the cooler months, I would rent a studio in the city’s west end and shoot performers for a couple of hours at a time. As the warmer weather came, I would shoot outdoors and even travel to points outside Toronto. But I was no longer limiting my self to burlesquers: I expanded to dancers, ballerinas, and even aerialists.
I continued to access burlesquers to photograph with a unique photoshoot session. I captured film noir–inspired act of burlesquer Sizzle Disco (far left) while Harley Sparks (centre) was interested in exploring a 1920s-era photographic look, and Cat Zaddy (right) was interested in regular headshots.
Burlesquer Cara (centre) was interested in having headshots at High Park, while her fellow performers generated mystery. Knox Harter (left) and I created a mid-1950s look on the Toronto Islands, while Felix Felicity (left) playfully yet effectively hid her full face from the camera.
Because there are a finite number of burlesquers in Toronto, I can’t restrict myself to just a small community of performers to photograph. I began expanding to performers beyond the world of burlesque. Actors, dancers, and even athletes are fair game for me to photograph.
I was introduced to Brittany through her friend Crismon, whom I had also photographed (see my previous post about photography). Like Crimson, Brittany is an aerialist, although Brittany also dances, posting her dance videos online. Brittany was a little shy during our photoshoot, but she was comforted by Crimson’s presence during our shoot. (I think I have a photo of them together.) But in the meantime, I was able to capture a few images that capture Brittany’s athleticism and artistic talent.
Hanna is an actor who is also a practising aerialist. Indeed, Hanna and I did our shoot at an aerial studio in Toronto’s east end; coincidently, Hanna sometimes practises at the studio with fellow aerialist Mary Margaret, who works in an administrative capacity at the studio. (See below for a photo of Mary Margaret.) During our shoot, I suggested to Hanna that we try for some headshots (far left) and some creative poses that allowed me to continue my exploration of mirrors in photography (far right). But we also had the opportunity to allow Hanna to show off some aerial-inspired poses (centre).
Dancers have also become a part of my photographic exploration. Rose (left) had recently graduated from a ballet program at a Toronto-area college and was interested in doing shots in her dance attire. Dancer and choreographer Rachel (centre) and I met at the Brickworks just as the summer was changing to fall, allowing us to capture some beautifully composed shots that highlight Rachel’s poses. Meanwhile, dancer Caddy (right) and I spent a day at the Guildwood Park and Gardens in Scarborough. With beautiful scenery of Lake Ontario, the park has many leftover remains of old Toronto buildings subsequently torn down. Caddy was able to gorgeously model, using her dance poses, on many of the garden’s statuesque holdings. Student Estelle (below), who participates in many productions with local ballet companies, also wanted to pose in her dance outfits. She allowed me to explore the use of mirrors in photography.
The photography lens often picks up the skin of people in heavy clown or mime makeup as coarse as sandpaper, leading me to learn that vital importance of smoothing out skin under heavy white make up in Lightroom and Photoshop. Camryn (left), a recent graduate of a joint University of Toronto and Sheridan College acting program, has developed many acting characters and costumes and modelled for me near Toronto’s Casa Loma on a muggy May afternoon. Mary Margaret (right), an aerialist, likewise, has developed a mime character that she has developed for corporate events, particularly Toronto’s Pride festivities. We collaborated to capture her mime persona.
Belly dancers are another class of performers that I have captured. I travelled outside of Toronto, also on a hot, muggy May day to capture Mary (left), who by day has a full-time job and family but enjoys performing in belly dancing festivals across the province. Fellow belly dancer Juliet (right), who also belly dances in festivals and concerts, worked with me to capture many interesting poses during our two-hour shoot and provided naturally used the mirror to create well-crafted facial expressions. Meanwhile, Rojan (below), a fire dancer who has performed alongside many bell dancers, including Juliet, was interested in using the mirror to capture interesting images. Rojan was admittedly inspired by Juliet’s images, such as the one above.
Athletes, Models, and Other Subjects
In an effort to further expand my reach of people I photograph, I reached out to people in the sports and modelling worlds. During a warm June day, I photographed Aleksandra (two rows above, left and right), a multi-sport athlete, including, among, other sports, volleyball and skiing. In addition to sports, Aleksandra is also a dj. Aleksandra modelled for me because she knows Emily, a fellow volleyball player. Emily coincidently also models in the world of fashion (see two rows above, centre), but is also confident enough to model in her volleyball attire (see above).
Mayanne (two rows above, left and centre), meanwhile, began her modelling career when photography was largely an analogue medium. During our shoot, which took place at the same aerial studio where I shot both Emily’s fashion shoot and Hanna, Mayanne fondly recalled her early modelling days, when she fashioned clothing for leading retail magazines. She subsequently veered away from modelling to begin a family but is once again modelling. Stacie (two rows above, right, and above), meanwhile is an entertainer under the stage name of the “Mermaid Oracle” as a clairvoyant and intuitive guide. We spent an afternoon on the Toronto Islands capturing Stacie’s mermaid persona in a photographic metaphor.
Increasing Photography Opportunities
As I continue in my photographic journey, I look for more–especially paid–opportunities to photograph people. In the meantime, I continue to aspire to get my photography to the wider world. In the meantime, if I have photographed you but haven’t written about you, please continue to look at the stars.
