Masthead

Editor-in-Chief

Hamutal Dotan

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Hamutal is a recovering grad student currently living in the west end. After a stint studying with rabbis in Jerusalem (brief, apocalyptic) and another studying with philosophers in Pittsburgh (protracted, angst-y), she has returned to her hometown to see what life outside the ivory tower might hold. Hamutal is equally compelled to write about architecture, farmers’ markets, and city council meetings, which makes her either a Renaissance woman or a dilettante, depending on your point of view. Tutorials on the pronunciation of her name are gladly provided upon request.

Deputy Editor

Meg Campbell

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Born in the dark heart of the GTA ‘burbs, Meg grew up with her eye on the Big Smoke, even when living in Calgary, where she avoided revealing her home town. She’s resided in nine apartments in six Toronto neighbourhoods since 2001, while learning stuff at U of T and working an increasingly media-focused series of jobs. With a somewhat accidental editorial start in community news, Meg has contributed to various publications as a writer and hard-ass proofreader; she was also a Torontoist copy editor from 2008 to 2010. Typos are her kryptonite.

Staff Writers

Jamie Bradburn

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Jamie has wandered the back alleys of Toronto past and present for the past decade and has only gotten lost a few times (but has lost count of how many side trips he’s taken along the way). He figures exploring the city and its past is a way to know his surroundings better and justify his history minor in university. He has also discovered his camera has fused itself to his hand, which is great for snapping pictures but lousy for most physical tasks. Besides Torontoist, his other online outposts include a blog and a photostream.

Kelli Korducki

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Kelli Korducki grew up in Milwaukee but has lived in Toronto for long enough to be considered a real Torontonian (or, at least, a convincing imposter) by most. In addition to writing about media, culture, and the fine city of Hogtown, Kelli also pens short stories about wayward women and a blog about food and cultural ephemera. She can often be spotted riding Bea Arthur (her bicycle) around the city’s west end, humming choir tunes and dreaming of soft serve ice cream.

Steve Kupferman

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Steve is a relative newcomer to Toronto. He was born in the state of New York, where he spent over two decades waiting for his chance to sneak across the border. He was all set to lash together some inner-tubes and plywood so he could make a go of it on the choppy seas of Lake Ontario. But then U of T accepted him—so that worked out nicely. He’s since earned a master’s degree, and has spent much of his spare time exploring an urban landscape he suspects he won’t ever be able to see enough of. Writing for Torontoist is just another one of his ploys to insinuate himself into the fabric of his new home. It sure beats the inner-tubes.

Carly Maga

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Believe it or not, when Carly moved from the cultural hotspot of suburban Ottawa to Toronto in 2006, she had a serious case of the starry-eyes. Now, through the ups and downs of any long-term relationship, the infatuation has evolved into a deep and meaningful appreciation. The ink is still drying on her Journalism degree from Ryerson University, which she hopes to put towards a career somehow involving writing, the arts (especially theatre), travel, and a newfound love for food and cooking caused by 3 years of living disgustingly close to the St. Lawrence Market. The quickest way to Carly’s heart is through a round of boxing, a good pun, or a joke that’s a little “too soon.”

Jaime Woo

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Jaime is writer-videographer in Toronto and also the co-founder of Gamercamp, a homegrown festival celebrating the art and creativity in games. He writes about tech, food, fashion, queer rights, communities, and video games. One day, he’ll find a way to write a giant piece that encompasses all of the aforementioned. His work has also appeared in the Financial Post, Vancouver Sun, Xtra, NOW, and The Mark.

Staff Illustrator

Chloe Cushman

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Chloe is a freelance illustrator living and working in Toronto. She has a BA in English and contemporary philosophy from the University of King’s College, and has also studied in the Interpretive Illustration program at the Sheridan Institute. You can view Chloe’s portfolio online.

Photography Editor

Michael Chrisman

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Michael is a born explorer. He spends his time delving into places most people don’t know exist or at least prefer to pretend they don’t exist. Alleyways, industrial brownfields, vast parking lots; the modern landscape. Michael’s interest in the not-so-fine line where the natural environment and the man-made environment meet has influenced his professional work greatly. He splits his time between environmental design and photography to the detriment (and sometimes benefit) of both. Born on the west coast of the United States and raised in Toronto’s suburbs, Michael is grateful to have called Toronto home for the past nine years.

Copy Editors

Laura Godfrey

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Laura grew up in the bustling suburb of Brampton, but after graduating with a BA in English from York University and a diploma in journalism from Centennial College, she finally found herself a cozy apartment in Toronto’s east end to share with her cat. She has completed magazine internships at Outpost, MastheadOnline, and Quill & Quire, and is currently the associate director of Bookclub-in-a-Box and a part-time freelancer. Her friends are afraid to send her casual emails, since she spends much of her free time distinguishing between en dashes and em dashes while wearing her “Bad grammar makes me [sic]” T-shirt.

Jacob Sheen

Jacob was born in England, raised in Australia, lives in Canada, and had aimed to complete his collection of Commonwealth passports until he found out there were 54 available. 54! That’s too many. He has exquisite control of his eyebrows, individually and as a unit, and he is trained to spot and correct errors in text while wearing his pyjamas and maintaining his self-respect. What he would really like to do is open a public private library (a.k.a. a private public library). Ask him about it sometime, or about other things.

Jeremy Woodcock

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Jeremy Woodcock is a writer and copy editor with Torontoist. He doesn’t know where he learned to write, but picked up all he needs to know about being an editor from reading every Hardy Boys book as a child. (“I’m really mad,” said Joe, angrily. “Calm down. Let’s go play catch,” Frank tossed back.) He performs comedy and plays music around town, and can occasionally be seen on TV with his sketch troupe, Rulers of the Universe. Jeremy also likes writing music, stories, and plays. Because he often writes comedy, he’ll probably be very comfortable and normal if you tell him to say something funny.

Staff

Todd Aalgaard

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Todd Aalgaard is an Islander of B.C. extraction, but threw a dart at the map in 1999 and ended up in Toronto. After studying anthropology at York University, he became a writer, musician, freelance journalist, web-ordained minister, and that guy who’s not around enough but will totally buy you a drink once he gets paid. Having appeared in places like MONDOmagazine and Momentum, Todd’s friends and family best describe him as “tall.” Get him drunk enough and he’ll probably write a song about you.

Sarah-Joyce Battersby

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Born in Dublin, landed in North York, raised all around the GTA, with stints in London and Montreal, Sarah-Joyce has been around. But Toronto has pulled off what she once thought impossible and held her interest for a relatively prolonged period of time. Now her rootlessness manifests itself in frequent apartment hops across the city. After many years and many more apartments, she has found enough politicking, cycling, hip hopping, and neighbourhood characters to keep her guessing and asking then writing and telling for years to come. And yes, please say the “Joyce,” so as not to confuse her with Toronto-based writer Sarah Battersby who writes extensively about gardens, the roots of which S-J is only now learning to comprehend.

Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy

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Born in Guelph, Wyndham spent her formative years trying to survive the suburbs of Northern California. She returned to Canada to get a cheap(er) education and holds an Honours BA in English from the University of Toronto. Wyndham currently works as a contract copy editor and freelance writer.

Christopher Bird

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The Explosively Talented Christopher Bird (or the ETCB to his family and friends) has worked in no particular order as a filmmaker, waiter, administrative assistant, script doctor, freelance writer, freelance character assassin, web monkey, teaching assistant and hobo who dances for quarters. He is presently a student-at-law at Wise Law Office, so Shakespeare wants you to kill him first. Everything he writes that The Man won’t allow you to read on Torontoist can be found at mightygodking.com.

Andre Bovee-Begun

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André Bovee-Begun was born somewhere called “Philadelphia,” but got his act together and made it to the Beaches by age five. Before graduating from the University of Toronto, he was mixed up with a fast crowd at their student paper The Varsity, and ended up as the news editor for a year. He is still trying to recover. Some of his writing slipped into This Magazine once, and he was also an editor at the Hart House Review. His hobbies include repairing old cameras, using them, and travelling around (but not writing about) Japan.

Ed Brown

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With the realization that he lacked the necessary pluck required for legitimate work, Edward Brown took to the writing racket in childhood, penning extortion letters and hold-up notes for a neighbourhood thug. With a degree in English Literature, Edward entered the teaching profession (summers off!) but snuck out after third period, never to return. He instead focused on freelance and fiction writing, as well as teaching English as a second language.
A diagnosed technophobe, Edward Brown was the publisher of the defunct satirical ‘zine, The Bottletree. His writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Spacing, Broken Pencil, Pilot, as well as other less reputable places. His story collection, Playing Basra, was released in 2008 to uncritical acclaim.

Remi Carreiro

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Remi moved downtown from Pickering at nine years of age, and took on Toronto as his official hometown the moment he set foot in it. He’s been a student for what he’s experienced of his life so far, which means that everything has been a “learning experience.” Remi is a big time Apple Geek and some people say he likes John Mayer too much (they may be right). If he’s in not in class, he’s probably taking photos or whining about how he doesn’t have his camera on him. Remi finds it hard to choose a certain part of the city that he loves most because he’s still exploring and it takes a hell of a lot of time to do.

Harry Choi

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Harry was born in Hong Kong, China, and spent his childhood running up and down a forty-five-storey apartment building with his buddies. At seventeen, he came to Toronto and eventually graduated from the University of Toronto. One day, while punching numbers in a design studio, Harry realized life is much more than debits and credits, so he picked up a camera and couldn’t let go. He has been rediscovering the world through a viewfinder for the past few years and hopes to one day make a difference with images.

Desmond Cole

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Desmond Cole was born in Red Deer, Alberta. He is a winner of City Idol, which mercifully had nothing to do with singing. He enjoys eating kale chips and listening to broadcasts of sporting events on the radio. Desmond believes that every person needs and deserves to be loved.

D.A. Cooper

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D. B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the United States on 24 November 1971, collecting over US $200,000 in ransom before parachuting from the plane, never to be seen again.
D. A. Cooper has never done these things. He is just a regular guy, thus far unchronicled in the annals of history. A Toronto native and avid concertgoer, he graduated from Ryerson University’s Radio & Television Arts program where his interests were redirected toward photography. After doing the 9–5 thing for a while, he is currently taking any and every photographic opportunity that comes his way. Aside from the pure joy of the craft, he has supremely enjoyed getting the chance to mingle and collaborate with some of Toronto’s many passionate and creative individuals.

Matthew Daley

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Originally from the wilds of Brampton Ontario, illustrator Matthew Daley now gets a nice view of our fair city from his lofty perch in Liberty Village. As an illustrator his work has appeared in a variety of magazines, on rock posters, and recently in an iPhone app by the Dairy Board of Canada. He thinks you should give his webcomic Mr. Monitor a look when you have the chance. He prefers his weather cold and his coffee on the creamy side. You can find more of his work by pressing on this nice, welcoming link.

Steve Fisher

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Steve moved from Ottawa (where he attended Arts Canterbury High School) to Toronto for his B.F.A. in Theatre from Ryerson University. After graduating, he spent a few years performing in operettas, improv, and Fringe shows, but gradually realized he was just as happy to see (and write about) shows as perform in them, so he left the hardscrabble life of acting for the easy money of arts journalism. Since 2003, he’s written a weekly emailed update about Toronto’s performing arts; in 2009, he imported his thousand-plus mailing list to a new website. When not seeing five to six shows a week, Steve spends his “free time” working for the Canadian Naval Reserves; he’s a Leading Seaman, with more than twelve years of service.

David Fleischer

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If you Google “David Fleischer” you should know that: first, he is not a Brazilian economics expert; and second, he does not write for The Advocate (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). A native North Yorker, he has written for the National Post and Post City Magazines (no relation) and is a co-founding editor of Afterword, Canada’s national Jewish student newspaper. Really. David writes stories no one has published and once wrote songs and played guitar in a band called Urban Cactus. It featured several people who are now sufficiently successful that it would be pathetic to so much as drop their names.

Alex Nino Gheciu

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Alex can most often be found slumming it in Rexdale, where he bathes publicly and competes in tiddlywinks tournaments for grocery money. He has attained degrees in Professional Writing and Political Science from York University, which means he can maneuver a fork with exquisite finesse. In his spare time, when he’s not auditioning for the next season of From G’s to Gents, he’s usually slamming your favourite band in Eye Weekly. If you ever feel deeply insulted by one of his reviews, he is prepared to make amends by throwing a sorbet party in your honour. Otherwise, if you want beef, he’s got plenty.

Lodoe-Laura Haines-Wangda

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Lodoe-Laura was born in the nineties, in the much inferior city of Ottawa. At two weeks old, she was sneaked onto an airplane bound for Kathmandu, Nepal, where a wise man told her parents to put a camera in her hands. When not shooting photos for Torontoist, Lodoe-Laura spends her time taking courses in Ryerson University’s Image Arts Program, involving herself in the Tibetan movement, and trying to teach people to pronounce her name correctly.

Max Hartshorn

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Max is a freelance journalist hailing from Boston. He writes pretty much exclusively about science and the paranormal, which he’s convinced are the two most interesting things anyway so it works out well for him. You might spot Max dowsing for gemstones in High Park, chatting up alien abductees at Conspiracy Culture, or browsing the “Grimoires” section of your local Chapters. He secretly dreams of being a mad scientist, but will probably have to settle for just writing about them instead.

Roxanne Ignatius

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Roxanne Ignatius is a Toronto-based artist and illustrator. Her favourite neighborhood is Kensington Market. Hobbies include sewing dresses and fighting evil. Roxanne’s work can be seen here.

Jeremy Kai

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Jeremy Kai has jittery hands. Instead of pursuing a career in dentistry or brain surgery he decided instead to draw and paint stuff (where it’s okay to nourish oneself entirely with coffee). When not hunched over his drawing table, Jeremy engages in unorthodox hobbies and explores all parts of the city through all forms of transportation. He feels that Toronto needs more mythological characteristics and thinks its people should romanticize about their city a little bit more.

Kyra Kendall

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Kyra Kendall is an illustrator that lives and works in the Annex. She has also called Cabbagetown, Clubland and even the gritty streets of Lorne Park home. When not drawing for Torontoist, she is making beautiful fashion dress-up iPhone apps for five-year-olds. Her work has been featured in several illustration anthologies, curated shows, and packaged beauty products sold at your local big box pharmacy. Kyra likes: Colour. Volunteering for worthy causes. Conspiracy theorists. Riding her bicycle the wrong way down one-way streets.

Andrew Louis

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Andrew grew up in Scarborough (maybe you’ve heard rumours of this land?) but now calls the Annex home. When he’s not taking photos he’s slowly disentangling himself from UofT and writing software for a living. He’s a man of few vices but can finish a bag of nachos in a sitting and naps slightly more than necessary. He also has a blog.

Tony Makepeace

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Tony Makepeace (panoramaist) was born in Montreal and experiments with photographic processes, from 19th century to current. He is currently on the faculty of the Visual and Creative Arts program at Sheridan Institute and the School of Fine Art & Music at The University of Guelph. Feel free to contact him with your questions regarding optics, chromatic aberration, and toning formulas. He will also take questions of a general nature.

Brian McLachlan

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Brian McLachlan is a writer/artist/cartoonist. His hilarious-out-loud webcomic is The Princess Planet. He’s been published by Vice, Coach House Press, Wizards of the Coast, YM, Toronto Star, Oni Press, Scholastic Canada, Nelson textbooks and regularly contributes to Owl Magazine. Brian enjoys mini-golf and regular sized hockey.

Patrick Metzger

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Patrick was born in New Jersey and raised in London, Ontario but has lived most of his adult life in Toronto. From the French-Canadian side of the family he inherited his reputation as raconteur, flaneur, and bon vivant, from the German side an abiding Weltschmerz and keen sense of the Zeitgeist, and from the Irish and Scots his latent alcoholism. Patrick is interested in Mixed Martial Arts, municipal politics, and the Apocalypse.

Stephen Michalowicz

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Stephen was born in Toronto and raised in the suburban utopia of Etobicoke. After studying history and political science at the University of Toronto, he went on to complete his Master’s in American history at the University of Western Ontario. When he’s not napping, listening to political podcasts, or sorting through historical documents, he can often be found composing bizarre articles for his blog.

Nancy Paiva

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Nancy was born on Halloween and has a thing for the colours orange and black. Born in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, she was raised in Buffalo, New York and has heard every fire joke. She moved to Toronto to marry a nice Canadian boy and considers herself a part of the free trade agreement. She carries a camera with her everywhere she goes (sometimes two) and now leans to one side because of all the gear.

Saira Peesker

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Saira Peesker is a baller, shot-caller, and yes-y’aller. She covers politics, social justice issues and the arts, and loves to interview wacky characters about their zany, screwball antics. In her spare time, she likes to skate very fast in a counter-clockwise direction as a jammer for Toronto Roller Derby.

Sasha Plotnikova

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Restless and nomadic, Sasha finds herself hopping from one home to the next, but west end Toronto will always be her stomping ground. At the moment, she’s at McGill working away at an undergrad in Art History and Urban Systems while delegating a team of illustrators at the student paper. In her spare time, Sasha engages in flânerie and the occasional catastrophic bike accident, but she always seems to emerge unharmed, ink bottle and sketchpad in hand.

Kevin Plummer

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Kevin Plummer grew up in Saskatchewan then bumped around Canada with stints living on the west coast and the east coast, before finally arriving here in the middle. Now, whenever he needs escape from the clichéd existence of a cubicle worker, he stumbles out to wander the city he loves. He’s got a very diverse set of interests from urban affairs and history to classic film noir to obscure soul music, and finding new ways to procrastinate.

Kiva Reardon

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Kiva Reardon is a west end Toronto transplant from that area of the city east of the Don (she thinks both are neat, but the east end has Jilly’s). After four years in Montreal at McGill (learning how to use terms like “Lacanian” and read homoerotic subtexts into all films) she returned to the city from whence she came. Missing writing about film she started a blog, which led to writing for other filmic sites, then she found herself knocking at the cyber-door of Torontoist. They let her in, which was nice.

Emily Shepard

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Emily is a law student with hobbies, including curly hair, bad television and municipal politics. She grew up in Toronto, but feels like she has a lot to learn about the city. Her goals include sampling every food cart on St. George, running the Toronto marathon, and running for mayor. One day.

Corbin Smith

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“Corbin Smith is a director, creator, builder, visionary, boundary-pusher, professional photographer, and documentarian (among other things.) Most of all, Corbin Smith is a storyteller… He has been quietly racking up major photography awards, most notably with Applied Arts and CAPIC, and is positioned to become one of Canada’s top creative professionals.” Someone once wrote that flattering commendation. As for what I have to say for myself, well: I’m deeply in love with Canada, I think Toronto is pretty nifty, and I hope Toronto thinks I’m nifty too.

Miles Storey

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Amateur and enthusiastic photographer. Grew up on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean and doesn’t get any TV references from the 70s.

Jake Tobin Garrett

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Jake Tobin Garrett, originally from Vancouver, is a writer who moved to Toronto to complete a Masters in Urban Planning at the University of Toronto. While he misses the ocean, the mountains, and his favourite burrito place, Toronto has grown on him with its old-timey buildings, streetcars, and summer thunderstorms. When he has the time he likes to ride his bike to places in the city he hasn’t seen, read books in various parks with back against various trees, and visit the lake every so often to reassure himself that, yes, he still does live near a body of water. He enjoys writing about urban design, transit, public space, bikes, municipal politics, and books. He also writes for Spacing magazine.

Nicole Villeneuve

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Nicole is a transplanted Haligonian who actually became less skeptical of this great city by reading Torontoist, so she’s really glad they let her join staff. She is a full-time employee and a part-time student and writer who always forgets to get her hair cut, but doesn’t forget much else. Her sense of humour probably most resembles your dad’s.

Johnnie Walker

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Johnnie Walker is a playwright and actor who lives in Little Italy. He spends his time producing his own plays with the theatre company he founded, reviewing other people’s for this very blog, and having his bicycle stolen. He has lived in Toronto his entire life and likes absolutely everything about it. Except for all the bike theft. And yes, that is his real name.

Ryan Walker

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An emerging photographer currently residing in Toronto, Ryan has a strong interest in the use of various mediums for social change and a common good. He has volunteered his time and offered photographic services to a number of not-for-profit organizations in southern Ontario. In May 2010, Ryan was awarded a Scotiabank Scholarship to attend the Magnum Photos workshop as part of CONTACT 2010. During this time he was fortunate enough to meet and work under the guidance of Magnum Photographer Constantine Manos. Propelled by a curiosity to discover what lies beneath the surface of everyday rituals, his work attempts an intimacy within both the public sphere and the domestic realm.

Ryan West

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Ryan was born in Vancouver but moved to Toronto out of personal preference, making him a specimen as rare as the Loch Ness Monster and forever earning him the ire and indignation of his hometown peers. Packing a B.A. in English Lit and twin obsessions with pop culture and social media, he spends most of his time cultivating an early aneurysm by organizing actors and camera crews in the film and TV scene. In his free time he reviews theatre, plays board games, dreams of being a superhero, and campaigns to reinstate phrenology as a legitimate science.

Eric Yip

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Eric Yip was raised in the suburbs of Willowdale. After picking up his first camera, he became an enthused urban explorer in the heart of downtown Toronto. Eric enjoys spending long nights, dwelling in a city of busy streets and neon lights. He loves natural lighting and flares, and strives to capture cinematic images.

Alumni