There she is, unknown to you, unsaid, obscured, disconnected, one day, from the shadows she emerges into the light. From as simple as a photograph or the memorable moment her presence dared you to notice and never forget. You know her when you see her, it’s unmistakable, it imprints on you, that emotional collision with racing imagination soars, you realize she’s finally here. Her eyes stop you, her smile captivates you, what she’s wearing stuns you, her mannerism endears you, the way she moves tempts you, heart pounding because you need to know who she is,  you’ll never forgive denying yourself a chance. Call me a silly romantic, if feeling any of these emotions, you should be at the ‘hello’ stage long before your next heart beat. Pay attention to the shadows and ready yourself for the unexpected. She’ll step out into the light when you least expect it and what a memorable moment she is going to be.

As a father, checkmate should never be the definitive answer, no matter how daunting an opponent plays. Each square is an opportunity to explore, learn, earn potential mistakes, chess is a game, some times you lose, your pieces gone, checkmated into submission. However, with any good game, you get to play again. Every decision is a risk, you’ll lose pieces along the way, you strategically move all your options until you protect or lose your ground. Depending on the outcome of a game, you may have to line up the chess men again, this time, moving forward with a strength from learned mistakes, fighting forward with devotion to succeed in spite of all the lost games before. No matter how unfair, blindsided or exhausting the previous games played out, there is always hope that your day of a checkmate will come. My chess men are lined up, we’re ready to make our move.

Today, your life is headed in one direction, tomorrow it may lead off into another. The energy within you can spark off an amazing new road map. When those roads lead to positive connection, it’s such an electric feeling that brings a surge of new energetic focus. Let those sparks fly, wherever it is that you may find them.

This is an iPhone capture, I was reminded of it by conversation this evening, one of my favorite passages from the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens brings this image true to life. All of our lives are built on the formation of links we make to one another. Each of those links can bind us to a different path. It’s always important to never take for granted the importance you may have on someone else.

These words stay with me every day, whichever way you choose to interpret is up to you. There is beauty and positivity to be felt in this passage, there can also be sadness and despair depending on how the link was formed or broken. I’ve always leaned towards the beautiful imagery Dickens scribed here, Dickens also understood the life of poverty and the impact it weighted on his character’s hearts.

Great Expecations by Charles Dickens

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.

Any life is filled with imperfection, we all make mistakes, some times the mistakes of others fall upon us. Everything has a cause and effect, its up to us how we choose to move forward with the effect and fallout of the cause. I personally love these two photos, even though I made a mistake on the shutter timing of the second shot. I wasn’t prepared for the energy of Jake’s love for his little buddy. The second photo has grown very much on me, I love the energy of love in the second shot. I’m gonna call it a happy mistake and realize that Jake and Sol, both offered me the heart and soul of any photograph. Love and emotion on both sides of the lens.

Every story is connected, you never know how it may connect until you ask the most important first question, “Hi, What is your name?” once you shake hands to seal that new connection, a whole new yarn of stories are spun from that very first human privelege. I am fortunate, my time on the streets have built pockets of trust and I always appreciate when I am able to build that first moment with a smile, shake and exchange of names. Names are important, it is who we are, it is our identity, regardless of our social or economic status. I met Binky and Zeus with that very principle in mind, during our entire conversation, Binky was intent on always addressing me by name. It’s a small thing, I did appreciate hearing him recite my name any time he wanted to share something else with me.

Binky and Zeus aren’t ‘homeless’ in the sense that they don’t have a place to sleep at night. Binky assured me that he was thankful for the friends who care for him and his pup Zeus. He stays on the west side on Queen St, it’s safer and less careless people pass him by. Binky, during Toronto’s busy festival season, usually finds work as a grounds keeper cleaning up the streets of the remnants left behind. He has his vices, cigarettes, a little weed here and there, but can’t bring himself to lie, cheat and steal. He’d rather embarrass himself humbly during crunch time between pay to get some extra cash by panning for money.

In my first shot, you will see Binky reading the paper. He doesn’t usually follow the news, on this particular day, some hopeful news had arrived in the arrest and charge of a suspect regarding a high profile murder case of another fellow streeter. Someone Binky had spent quite amount of time with. As you’re able to see, Binky is all smiles regardless of it all, in describing his last moments with his now deceased friend, the smile faded. He said “George didn’t deserve that, he was just a nice simple guy who didn’t know any better’.

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Some of my moments are quick, brief and costly. Those who know me well, also are very much aware that my hearing is not that great. Some days my hearing benefits others quickly. Like Alexander for example. His lazy speech combined with my stellar hearing had me agreeing to two portraits for $5. It took awhile for both of us to get this clear to one another, it wasn’t until after I had snapped the shots before he pulled a $5 bill out of his pocket and said ‘pay me’. I realized I had just agreed to pay him $5 for two portraits. All this in less than two minutes. I had to move on fast, I was fearful of what else he would have me agree to. I dropped my $5 and a went on laughing at myself. Now I see him most days, he waves a $5 bill when he has one. He’s on to me, he knows I am easy prey and a sucker for a beautiful smile.

Homelessness does not have a distinct outward appearance, it doesn’t always present itself as obvious. This scene presented itself as a curious story, I watched for several minutes as this woman would wheel one cart half a block down, then return to wheel the other and repeat this many times along Queen St.

I was astonished to watch countless people pass her, fully aware that she was struggling to get to her destination, I get that people are busy, nonetheless surprised. It worked in my favour, I couldn’t bear to watch her keep going without at least offering to help. Part curiosity, part opportunity combined with my silly heart paid off as I got to listen to an amazing story and meet a wonderful and beautiful woman. She should not be where she is right now. She looks like she is ready to travel the world, doesn’t deserve to be kicked out of shopping malls where she is a paying customer.

Olga, is originally from Winnipeg. Has had a career and lifestyle based around film and TV, even produced her own weekly entertainment radio show back home in Winnipeg, she’s covered the stories of the red carpet, has photos of illustrious celebrities, we shared an ironic conversation about the now late Roger Ebert whom we lost just this past week. I can assure you, Mr. Ebert would have offered two thumbs down to the Government of Canada for this story.

When we think of disabilities, we always reach for the notable, the physical, the evident, what about the silent ones? Such as Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis and COPD. There are people who suffer greatly from environmental illness and sensitivities, scents, harsh chemicals such as paint, ink, perfumes and other airborne particles, once exposed can become a painful ordeal within minutes. Olga, is embattled with not being able to seek normal shelter due to cleaning products used or other people that she would share with, she has opportunities for safe shelter, but due to government regulation on what is deemed proper shelter, Olga will not qualify for something that will improve her life. Honestly, it’s a simple solution, inventive and creative and should be considered a possible alternative. Canadian campgrounds do not qualify under proper shelter guidelines. Because she suffers with all of the above, she is living a silent hell. In fact, our three block walk carried us to her destination, she was to get more blood tests completed, this is where our conversation ended, twenty minutes after meeting on the street.

You’ll be hearing more about her, she is a fascinating person, I am looking forward to getting to know more. She is high tech, armed with her iPad, I was fortunate to receive an email from her, below, is a photo of her with the late Roger Ebert at Cannes Film Festival 2005. It’s a smaller world than we think.

Image Provided as Courtesy of Olga

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Meet 23 year old Sean from St. John, New Brunswick. I found him squatted on the sidewalk in the Queen West district of Toronto. Sean has been travelling through the U.S west. and all of Western Canada by squatting on trains, hitching rides and any other method that will move him towards home in New Brunswick.  He may have the outward appearance of a hardened soul, he is a really friendly kid, plays the ukelele very well, great stories, some very eye opening stories at that. As he said, you never know who you’re gonna meet riding the rails. Back in October while hitching in Washington state, Sean found his furry companion Oka, a very quiet yet mischievous dog, she has been with him since, keeps him company during the lonely nights in the cold. Together they plan to push back eastward to home in St John, by the middle or end of April when the weather warms up. He and I both are tired of the cold, both of us are excited for the summer months ahead. Hopefully I’ll run into him again next week when I am shooting Queen West again.

Patience paid off, I sat on the ground across the street from the Condom Shack on Queen St. in Toronto, I waited nearly a half hour for a stroller to come along so I could tell this visual story. However, during my time squatted on the other side of the street, it must have appeared that I was begging for money, I almost got a coffee and $2 Bucks for my troubles. Either I really looked like hell, or I’ve taken blending into the streets a little too far. Ha!