For years, my photography has revolved around the city itself—streets, architecture, light, and the quiet choreography of people moving through urban space. Toronto has been my subject more than any individual within it. But cities are not abstractions. They are lived, breathed, argued with, survived, and loved by people.
This is where Faces of Toronto begins.
The project is an experiment in intimacy, presence, and proximity—borrowing the human-centred storytelling ethos of Humans of New York, while deliberately breaking from its visual language. Instead of longer lenses and comfortable distance, Faces of Toronto is built around the 28mm lens, used close. Very close.
Why Faces of Toronto, and Why Now?
Toronto is often photographed as a skyline or a system. Condos, cranes, transit lines, glass. But the emotional reality of the city lives in faces—faces shaped by immigration, resilience, exhaustion, ambition, and quiet pride.
Faces of Toronto is my attempt to document the city one human at a time, not as a sociological survey, but as a series of encounters. These are not polished portraits. They are not aesthetic exercises. They are moments of trust between strangers.
At its core, this project asks a simple question:
What does Toronto look like when it looks back at you?
The Influence of Humans of New York (and the Point of Departure)
There’s no avoiding the influence of Humans of New York. Brandon Stanton demonstrated something profound: people are willing to share their inner lives if they feel seen, heard, and respected. HONY proved that storytelling doesn’t need spectacle—only sincerity.
Faces of Toronto adopts the same ethic of empathy but diverges in its execution.
Where HONY often uses tighter focal lengths that isolate the subject, my choice of the 28mm lens intentionally keeps the world present. Even when I’m physically close, the city never entirely disappears. Backgrounds compress less. Space breathes differently. Context leaks into the frame.
This is not portraiture that removes people from their environment. It places them firmly within it.
Why the 28mm Lens for Intimate Portraits?
Using a 28mm lens for close-up portraits is counterintuitive—and that’s precisely the point.
At close distances, the 28mm does something important:
- It demands presence
- It discourages detachment
- It removes the illusion of anonymity
You cannot hide behind a long lens with a 28mm. You have to step forward. You have to be seen as much as you see.
The resulting images feel intimate, not because they are flattering, but because they are honest. Faces appear authentic—sometimes vulnerable, sometimes guarded, sometimes defiant. There is no compression smoothing out the distance. The connection is immediate.
This mirrors the emotional transaction of the conversation itself.
The Process: Conversation First, Camera Second
Faces of Toronto is not a “drive-by” street project.
The process is simple, but not easy:
- I approach someone who feels visually or emotionally compelling.
- I ask permission to talk, not to photograph.
- We have a brief conversation.
- Only then does the camera come out.
Sometimes the resulting image is paired with a short quote or reflection. Sometimes the photograph stands alone. The stories are not edited to manufacture drama. If anything, restraint is the guiding principle.
This is not about extracting content. It’s about witnessing.
Ethics, Consent, and Trust on the Street
Street photography exists in a legal gray zone to some, but Faces of Toronto operates in a moral one.
Every subject participates knowingly. Every image is made with consent. If someone changes their mind, the photograph is deleted—no debate, no persuasion.
Trust is the real medium here.
The goal is not to collect faces, but to honour them.
How Faces of Toronto Fits into My Larger Work
If my long-term street work is about how cities shape us, Faces of Toronto is about who we are inside those cities.
This project doesn’t replace my wider, environment-driven photography—it complements it. It narrows the lens emotionally, even as it widens it optically.
My street photography captures the city as an experience.
Faces of Toronto shows the city as it is felt.
Both are necessary.
What This Project Is (and Isn’t)
Faces of Toronto is:
- An ongoing documentary experiment
- A study in proximity and presence
- A challenge to my own comfort as a photographer
It is not:
- A copy of Humans of New York
- A branding exercise
- A pursuit of virality
If people connect with it, that’s meaningful. If it makes some uncomfortable, that’s honest.
Closing Thoughts
Cities are often photographed from a distance—emotionally and physically. Faces of Toronto is my attempt to close that gap.
To step closer.
To listen longer.
To let the 28mm lens do what it does best: tell the truth without flinching.
Because before Toronto is a place, it’s a collection of people.
And every face carries a story worth seeing.
