A little over a month ago I decided to take a small weekend trip to Toronto, Canada. Due to a busy schedule and balancing many recent projects... I am finally getting a chance to sit down and share that experience through this blog post.
I decided to go to Toronto mainly because i had never been there before and it has always grabbed my interest. I have heard nothing but good things about the city over the years and with is rise in fashion and even holding its own Toronto Fashion Week that was closely covered by multiple media platforms, Toronto had grabbed my attention. I stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes outside of the city itself... However with public transit making multiple stops it was closer to about a 45 minute commute into downtown. Being used to long commutes on trains and busses in New York City this didn't bother me that much. Also the fact i was somewhere completely new i was pretty much glued to the window gazing out at an unfamiliar and fascinating place. Needless to say i was excited and ready to explore and take it all in.
The first day in Toronto I was on my own I took a decent walk to get to one of the bigger train stations going into the city rather then jumping on the nearest bus. I did this because i always lived by the motto of "sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way." so what better way to not only learn a new place quickly, but also explore it to its fullest content. After walking to the station i then jumped on one of the street cars that go in and out of downtown and took that straight into Eaton Centre which is what I described as the Times Square of Toronto.
Having grown up surrounded by multiple platforms of Art whenever I am somewhere knew it is always my top priority to dive head first into its art, fashion, and photography community. I found myself at the beautiful Art Gallery of Ontario and I spent my afternoon examining some really incredible and inspiring art work. After taking the Gallery in i spent the rest of the day location scouting for the next mornings shoot.
The next morning rolled around and I passed a group of people playing Quittach as i made my way into the city. Meeting with the beautiful model Alisa in Eaton Centre we then made our way around the city to multiple locations and had some fun shooting multiple outfits for a small fashion series. Not only is Alisa a great model, but she is also a working makeup artist in Toronto and a very talented one at that. after shooting we grabbed lunch and talked further about ourselves and out work. All i can say is that it was such a pleasure working with Alisa and i look forward to working with her agin in the future. Whether that be in Toronto again or New York City.
For only being in Toronto for a very short trip I have to say... It is definitely a place i can get used to visiting! After exploring Toronto and already having an interest in Canada itself I am extremely eager to see Montreal and Quebec City. I think a Canada road trip is a definite plan for the future.
One final thing about Toronto, just something i observed and found quite funny. Apparently drinking Black coffee is not a thing in Toronto, because whenever I ordered coffee and said no to cream or sugar... The reactions I received from people were as if i was not human. I loved it! haha
