The Alberta plains

Scenic Quebec country

Alberta grassland

Calgary Park

Wheeler's Hut.

Southeast Alberta

Alberta

Saudi Arabia on the horizon

Alberta

Alberta wheat

The Nile

In Collaboration with the Stop Community Food Centre

The Global Roots Project is an oral history project created in collaboration with members of the Stop Community Food Center’s Global Roots multicultural community garden. The project, an audio documentation of members’ stories, will be displayed both in the garden and in a web-based digital archive in order to illuminate alternative narratives of food, while also reflecting a need for more civic engagement and participation within communities and cities.

The Stop Community Food Center (The Stop) is an anti-poverty organization dedicated to the provision of healthful food, the nurturing of social connections and the promotion of civic engagement. The Stop includes a food bank, drop in service, greenhouse, commercial kitchen, a space for classrooms and a newly developed multicultural community garden, known as Global Roots. The Global Roots garden is comprised of seven plots devoted to different ethnic communities— South Asian, Chinese, Latin American, Filipino, Somalian, Italian and Polish.

Emphasizing narratives of cities and food that are rarely told, the project provides the Global Roots members the opportunity to share their stories. Working with a diverse group of community members and organizers, researchers, activists and academics, this project will benefit from insight on diverse issues such as food sovereignty, community engagement, storytelling and city planning.

For more information on the Stop Community Food Centre and the Global Roots garden, please visit these sites:

http://www.thestop.org/

http://www.thestop.org/welcome-to-the-global-roots-garden-a-united-nations-of-food

When I was applying, I was also in an internship at the Edmonton Sun. Amber Bracken, an ex-classmate of mine, as well as a talented staffer at the paper, was also applying. Jason Franson was our calming force in all matters that came to deciding which photo was better than the next. I learned a lot from both of them. It was a phenomenal atmosphere, where photography was openly and candidly expressed between people who had a love of the medium. I encourage all students, and pros for that matter, to find, develop, and create an environment like this- where you are pushing, and being pushed. I was lucky. Also, I 100% blame them both for me not getting in. I know when I’ve been duped. Just one of us makes it? C’mon.

Ok, so disappointment at not getting accepted. Lots of tears and sobs that I wouldn’t let anyone see. I bottle that shit up. I went to Egypt the following November and started a photo documentary  on the frustrations of the Egyptian people – we all know what came of those frustrations. I had some good images, but as it was my first major project, and I was on my own; it was hard to figure out what and where to shoot, and how it would all come together. The project is still in progress, but at the time I had a decent body of work that I could apply with. The first few shots were easy to pick. I imagine most photographers know what their best photos are… the trouble I had was when you get to the point where you are not sure whether this photo is better than that one, and then all start to look awful, and generic, and boring. Being able to take goods shots is important, but goes to waste if you cannot self-edit to present your best work. Looking back, I definitely had some questionable photos in my submission, but I think my personal sense of style and composition showed through. Pick the photos that define your style. If are choosing between two or three, take a step back and try to see the merit and value in each picture. I find that looking at why it is a good photo, and why it should be included is a better way to analyze and edit then looking for why one is worse than the other. Look for strengths rather than weaknesses. Here is my submission from last year:

The last day of submissions is the 27th of May, 2011.

You can apply at the Eddie Adams Workshop Website.

Best of luck to everyone who applies (especially those I know), and if you do get in, rock it. It is going to be an overwhelming experience. You are going to over saturated with information, and inspired by the best in the industry. Be aggressive. This workshop has opportunities at every moment. Talk to everyone you want to talk to. Find out how they got where they are, and why they keep going. Do not be timid. Despite the overload and exhaustion, it is on you to take advantage of every moment and enjoy it. Again, best of luck to everyone.

Welcome. Enter a world of magic, fun, art, heroes, villains, and fanboys.

Super Girl posing for a fan.

No shortage of comics.

One of the most recognizable villains of all time.

The most recognizable villain, giving some time to another villain, the press. Some mutual respect happening here, but who controls who?

Jedi to the rescue. Is Jedi both singular and plural? I think it is. Take that piece of geek knowledge to bank.

The fellow with the axe rolled a 20 here. The snoute was undamaged (despite the 20).

Storm Troopers doing what they do best, getting shot. This was a Shoot a Trooper for charity.

The force is strong with him, and his hair.

But not as strong as this fearsome duo. It does not get much more evil.

I love the idea of how public transit is in the  background of our experience of the city, and yet it is one of the pillars of the city. Cities, as a whole, depend on transit. Without it, Toronto, as well any other metropolis, would grind to a halt. The faces of riders show an understandable disengagement with their surroundings, and yet some of the stations are splashed in colors and art to fight the monotony and blandness that can so easily overcome the subway. Yet, the art is a shallow attempt at brightening up something that is mildly dreary and supposed to remain in background. For many it is the in-between of point ‘A’ and point ‘B’, and therefor doesn’t deserve attention. Even if it did, what would that acknowledgment be? Any improvements to the public transit are made so that people rightly have to spend less time on it, so that they get to their destinations as fast as possible. It is not a place of community, nor of gathering, but of commuting. As it should be. There will be more to come.