“Take Us To… ” is an ongoing  travel series around the world which features several photographers in a given location.  The goal is to give you an inside look as to what the city is like day by day.

Last month we traveled to Montevideo and today we fly non-stop to Toronto, the largest city in Canada.

Photographers Erin, Graeme, Ian, Jon, Kael, Kanwar and SooTeeOh take us on a journey throughout downtown, underground TTC, and surrounding areas of Lake Ontario and Cottage Country.

Hop on board Flight #3 and enjoy the ride…

MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

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Erin McGean Cindric

Bio:
I was born in the industrial city St. Catherine’s, grew up in Mississauga and currently live in Oakville, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto). I was trained in painting and drawing at York University in Toronto then attended teacher’s college at Brock University and have been teaching high school Visual Arts and photography for 12 years. I’ve had some success as a painter, exhibiting and selling my work in local galleries and art fairs over the years. I have a wonderful and supportive husband and two beautiful young children that make me proud and keep me busy.

Instagram is something I stumbled upon in November of 2011 and was instantly hooked. Working as a teacher with a young family has limited the time I can commit to art making, so mobile photography and editing has given me a creative outlet that works with my lifestyle. The community aspect of Instagram has made it very enjoyable. I am constantly in awe of other artist’s work that I have come across through Instagram over the least two years. Going on Instameets and recently participating in the Instagratification exhibit with some of my newfound friends has been very rewarding and bought the virtual world to life.  Recently I have become very involved with the AMPt community helping to moderate the website and curate features. I am very excited about the future of mobile photography and see it as a versatile and accessible too. I’ve also found that it has inspired and influenced my painting, drawing and multimedia work. Of course, the reverse is also true.

My mobile photography style ranges all the way from minimalism to heavily edited images, and on my Instagram feed you will find everything from the representational to the surreal. Using an iPhone 4, an Olloclip and various apps (mostly Art Studio, Pic FX, Snapseed, Image Blender, Mextures App and Phonto) I try to create images in a fluid way to achieve some diverse effects. Quiet, lonely, blue and surreal are some terms that can describe the images. I take much of my inspiration from nature, however everything in my daily life can be used a form of inspiration, the roads I drive, my children’s laughter, the design of a good chair.

Email // Instagram  // Google+

There are many things I love about this lighthouse photo.

The way the group of teens are hanging out enjoying the summer day reminds me of my carefree days of youth.

But I also love how the sky looked so blue that day and the backdrop of sailboats and birds.

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Graeme Roy

Bio:
I have been a photographer in one way or another for about 35 years. I’ve worked primarily in news photography most of this time, currently I’m the Director of Photography at The Canadian Press, but I’ve also dabbled in fashion, fine art and music… it’s been a wide and somewhat varied road to where I am now.

Mobile photography has been a profoundly liberating experience for me, and I believe for many others in my profession as well. The ability to shoot, process and share instantly has created a fantastically rich and diverse community of artists/photographers. While the ability to send and receive photos globally has always been part of my work life, this is most certainly not the case for most people and it’s a exciting and invigorating to see what new-found friends are up to around the world each day.

Email // Instagram // EyeEm // twitter // Oggl

“Bow to Me”
As with most of my photos there is no great back story or anything.

I liked the way the light bounced around and the person cast an interesting shadow, as if they were bowing to the great tower in front of them.

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Ian Griffin

Bio:
I grew up in the countryside outside the town of Dundalk on the east coast of Ireland. I moved to Dublin when I was 17 to go to University and ended up living there for 15 years. Although I grew up in the country I was just as happy in the city, quickly adapting to a faster pace of life.

In 2008 I went to Canada on holidays and met my now wife when I was in Toronto. After a year and a half of the torture that is a long distance relationship I moved to Toronto. I have lived in Toronto for over three and a half years now in the city’s Queen West area with my wife Eva and our 2 year old, crazy boxer Cuisle (pronounced “Kushla”).

Although I was living in Ireland’s capital, moving to Toronto was still a huge shock. There are as many people in the Greater Toronto Area as there are in all of Ireland. Although a huge city, I immediately fell in love with Toronto. I find it a very vibrant and “lived in” city. The city does not boast the grand architectural appeal that somewhere like Chicago does, nor does it have a history like Dublin but time spent walking around the neighbourhoods and down by the lake in Toronto really shows you how alive and how diverse the city is.

I first became interested in photography when I spent a year traveling in Australia in 2005. I had a pretty standard point and shoot camera but I quickly became hooked, driving my traveling companions crazy always lagging behind trying to get more shots. A few years later I received an entry level DSLR as a Christmas present from my family which I used when I went on holidays but it primarily became a dust collector. It was really only when I bought an iPhone about a year and a half ago and discovered Instagram that my passion for photography really took off. Now, everywhere I go it is like my head is on a swivel – I find I look at the world in frames. I think mobile photography has had this impact on a lot of people.

Instagram is an amazing and fascinating place. I love the community aspect of it and have been fortunate to meet other IGers from around Toronto, along with IGers from outside Toronto who have visited and even on a recent trip to Chicago I was able to organize a meet up with some people that I had “known” through IG for about a year.

As for my photography style: I’m still trying to find that myself, if you find it please let me know!

Instagram

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful view from my office.

One the days that you get a great sunset here in Toronto, and they are numerous, I have the best view in the city.

I took this photo one evening when in work late.

It was one of the most spectacular sunsets that I have ever seen.

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Jon Rix

Bio:
I live in the city, but I’m a country boy at heart. I was born up north and spent EVERY summer at the cottage. This is still true in a way as I get away every weekend I can escape the job (I work on call in the tech industry).

I discovered photography and Instagram in February 2012. I was posting pictures of Norman to Facebook and someone told me to check out Instagram (they were sick of looking at the Norm pics). Norman is my english bulldog. At first, all the pictures I took were just of Norman. Then I slowly started trying other things I saw on Instagram. I was inspired by all the great photography I was seeing everyday. It gave me confidence to try things that felt right to my eye, but I had never tried before. I still love taking pictures of Norman but I don’t post that many as I like to change things up in my feed.

I do not have 1 common theme or edit process. Every time I edit I try different things/apps depending on the photo. I shoot in camera+ and edit in Snapseed/VSCO/PicFx/Afterlight to name a few. I will avoid posting 2 black and white photos in a row, or 2 looking up shots in a row as best I can. I also do my best to find new areas to shoot in and not post the same shot/spot over and over. My favourite things to take pictures are of people and landscapes, although I do not get to see that many landscapes in the city. I do this as a hobby and love it. I always have a phone on me due to my job so it’s nice to be able to capture some of the things I see daily and share it with all the great people I’ve met on Instagram.

Email // Instagram

“Westbound”

This is one of my fav pictures of the TTC because it is one of the first I took.

I was paying attention to his bag.

Where is he going? What is in it? Where does he live? Is he visiting?

The motion of the train really made me see the possibilities of telling a story with a image, as well as giving me ideas of shooting my commutes to/from work.

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Kael Rebick

Bio:
I spend my days walking the streets of Toronto looking for beauty in the small things. There is so much beauty everywhere and if you don’t take the time to soak it all in, you might miss it.

I started taking photos of my father’s garden in 2005 with a little camera I found in a drawer. I developed quite a love for capturing beauty that way but it wasn’t until I got my first iPhone that it became a true passion.

I was thrilled to discover IG in April, 2010. It was a place to post my photos and also an incredible community. Since I downloaded the app, I don’t think I’ve looked at the world the same way. There truly is so much beauty everywhere.

I have chosen to photograph the Cedarvale Ravine. It is a hidden treasure in Toronto… a slice of country in the middle of the city. It’s an example of nature’s perfection all year round.

I take all my photos with my iPhone 5. I do very little editing to most of my images, but my favourite apps to use are, HDR Pro, Snapseed, Picfx and Photofx. I seem to focus primarily on colour and framing and most of all, beauty.

Email // Instagram // We Are Juxt

I’ve chosen a photo of the ravine from autumn as my favourite.

The ravine is a magical place for so many reasons.

One of the most incredible things about it is how it changes from season to season.

I love it all year but I think it is most beautiful in the fall.

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Kanwar Sandhu

Bio:
It all started in June of 2011, when I had first heard rumors of this photography app called ‘Instagram.’ I have always enjoyed photography as a hobby and since getting my hands on IG, it has become more of an obsession!

I come from the suburbs of Toronto (Mississauga) and try to get out to the city as much as I can to take a break from studying. I find it extremely therapeutic to get ‘lost’ in the city streets and underground pathways.  If there were a concrete description for my photographic style, it would probably be melancholy. lol. Nothing makes me more happy than taking pictures of dark and dramatic symmetrical architecture with an ambient feel. Of course listening to ambient electronica completes the mood :]

Instagram // twitter // website

“Darkness Falls”

It was the most haunting sky I had ever seen. Huge, ominous clouds on one side of the city and the setting sun on the other.

The CN Tower was lit up like a fiery beacon against the clouds and till this day, remains my favourite picture.

It also helps that a bird flew into the shot ;]

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SoTeeOh

Bio:

I am incredibly passionate about the city of Toronto. Conventional wisdom would label me a street photographer, but that would be inaccurate. I am a Toronto street photographer. I have no desire to shoot anything aside from the subjects that can be found within the boundaries of this city. My work is largely self exploratory. I reinterpret this city’s structures and environments to represent emotions, intentions and people that hold meaning in my life.

Email // website // Instagram // twitter // Facebook // YouTube

“Sunset Rock”

View of the city from a quiet bird sanctuary east of the downtown core where I like to go to get away from things.

About Author

Bridgette

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