Behind the Lens: The Making of the Ready 2 Listen Campaign - A Celebration of Indigenous Voices

Are you ready to be inspired? As a producer for the Ready2Listen Campaign, I had the honour of traveling across the country with Spruce Creative on behalf of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak to capture the powerful voices of Indigenous communities. The campaign's strengths-based approach allowed us to showcase the resilience and beauty of Indigenous Women, Non - Binary and Trans Folks, and I'm excited to share the behind-the-scenes process with you.

As a photographer, traveling light was key. With only a small flash and reflector, I was able to capture stunning portraits that truly showcase the strength and beauty of each person we interviewed. It was a challenge, but I'm thrilled with what we were able to achieve.

Image shared with permission from Spruce Creative - to hear more stories head to https://celebrateindigenous.ca/ready2listen/

But the heart of this campaign is in the voices we captured. From coast to coast, we interviewed rad Indigenous leaders, activists, and artists who shared their powerful stories of resilience and hope. Through this campaign, we hope to inspire and empower Indigenous youth and create a space for their voices to be heard.

Don't just take my word for it, head over to https://celebrateindigenous.ca/ready2listen/ to see more photos and the final videos of the campaign. Get involved and be a part of a movement that celebrates Indigenous voices and perspectives. Are you Ready 2 Listen?

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Vanity - My photo was used in a article post!

You know the funny thing about photos, sometimes you just take them and you never see where the end up. However, I’m starting a mission - I’m going to try and track down everywhere my photos that I’ve taken for clients wind up.

The real question is why I would spend my time doing such a task? Well, let’s break it down:

I have conversations with my clients during our sessions, about how they feel and how they want to be represented. So why not explore and see where the finals from our sessions trying to capture their most authentic self end up?

Anyway, this title does not really apply to this one, as Gloria sent it to me (THANKS GLORIA!!!) but it’s inspired a mission to find all my photos out in the wild…in their unnatural metaphorical wild.

Check out this OP - ED that Gloria wrote about sexual harassment in the workplace (CW for SA and the like). Check it out:

Taking Action Against Sexual harassment in the workplace on International Women’s Day

Now, I don’t want to get too into what Gloria’s article talks about (because we support websites and generating responsiveness).

Be sure to check out the article, and all the other lovely projects Gloria works on - particularly her music venture known as Scary Bear Soundtrack.

SoGal Ottawa: Prepping For the Future of Work

Recently, I was hired by SoGal which is “largest global platform for the education and empowerment of diverse entrepreneurs and investors”, Their mission is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship and venture capital. Sogal’s Ottawa chapter were recently having a networking event to ask how they could prep themselves and the youth for the future of work. They hired me to to film and put together a little recap video for their Ottawa Chapter. The event had a keynote speaker: Shauna Pollock: co-founder & director of Ottawa’s leading experimental prototype school, Blue Sky School. Check out the video below!

Music by: Ben Sound