Moving to Toronto
Before I get into this part of the blog, I have to say— I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT MY POLAROID CAMERA! My mom read my first blog and asked “What about the polaroid we got you?” Oh brother! I carried that thing everywhere, and took photos of everything. I have polaroids in every nook and cranny of my country home scattered about. Anyways, lets continue the story…
In summer 2018 when I purchased my camera, I also prepared myself to move to the GTA (Brampton specifically) to continue my education in the health science field. Although I did my undergrad in Ottawa, moving to Toronto was still quite a big change and I wasn’t sure if I was ready.
While attending Humber for my education, I started practicing my photography on my classmates— we all needed headshots for our Linked In profiles. From there I practiced on any friends that would let me. My favourite shoot I started with was my “Subway Challenge” I completed with my friend Matt (see photo below). We hopped on the yellow line at Finch and took the subway all the way to Vaughan Metropolitan, getting off at each stop to snap an image. And well, the images were so sweet!
Between moving from Brampton to Ajax and then Toronto, I slowly started building clientele from all across the GTA in various types of shoots. I have had such supportive friends hire me— love you Azra and Becca for giving me my start— and Toronto citizens hire me for various types of shoots! My network base has expanded so much, I can’t believe it. I have met so many amazing people who want nothing but the best for me. I never would have imagined being able to grow this much personally and professionally just by moving to this amazingly cultured city.
I am grateful for my parents, my country home, how I was raised— but I am also grateful for myself to have moved to Toronto and push my limits. I never knew I would be staying here longer than 1 year, but here I am, in love with my growth. Although I may seem different to the folks back home, deep down I am still the same Emily— just blooming in different ways than I was able to before.
“Subway Challenge”
In Frame: @mjquon