Before I was aware that packaging was a potential field of interest I was confident that I would be doing something within advertising, coming up with the concepts to communicate a message. I found it really fascinating how the creators calculate their designs to influence the viewer. My interest in photography started from social media, the most calculating medium of them all

In early 2015 I started my book blogging instagram, I spent most of my time reading then and through book clubs on goodreads I discovered #bookstagram and its aesthetic reading marvels. A few months later I was enrolled in my first photography class, one of three visual art courses my highschool offered, and I took them all, further honing my skills with my bookish photos.



Luci can climb on books, but she preferred naps on the top shelf #SockSunday was a trend in the community, this one taken during the holiday season. I think I had to keep twiddling with the pages to keep Luci's attention Always take more shots than you need when you set up a scene, maximize the potential of your ideas
Books are cool but this cat is cooler. #SockSunday was a trend in the community, this one took at least a hundred shots to get right Clean.
I think this was to share a book haul, it was certainly easier to keep Luci engaged with packaging material in the shot. Great minds think alike. #SockSunday was a trend in the community, this one holds dark opulence and I'm holding a toy out of frame If you think these books look sick on the outside, you should check them out for this insides (cat not included)

FishThatReads Instagram

2017-19

These are some sample photographs from the (now defunct) FishThatReads Instagram feed which used to be run as a book blogging platform with over 3,000 followers and daily posts which matched the blog identity. The employment of my cat as model was possibly the biggest challenge, it took way more treats than our initial contract outlined but it was all worth it.

Lightroom - Managing Difficult Talent


Everyone has a teacher that has shaped them in unforeseen ways, in high school for me that was Mrs. Papak. She introduced me to photoshop, composition, lighting and other visual tools that would forever shift how I perceive.

I became so excited to practice and learn more that within a few months I was teaching her new tricks in photoshop. Mrs.Papak was one of the first to curate a space I felt free to be wholly myself and create in, she encouraged me to explore and express (and still does!). My mind was ecstatic in that eclectic classroom. She had a rack of old scissors and an Emily Strange poster, both symbols also found still strong in my personal aesthetic.

We really focused on the basic principles and elements, and we could really submit anything as long as we communicated how we could describe where that piece plays in our work, enabling us to delve into personal styles and I soon found myself executing multiple ideas and projects simultaneously, sometimes compiling into one shoot to use for a few weeks of assignments and trying other creations in-between.

Scanography was one of the weekly assignments, I really fell in love with the medium with its contrast and sense of depth, ease of publication and accessibility in use. You found a photocopier aka horizontal photobooth and some knickknacks? Time for some quick selfies. I find myself going to the office printer, imagining I'm in a sitcom and let some energy out with this instant gratification medium. Seconds later my scan prints, I look at the page and its funny capture of myself and images of my previous scans come to mind leading me to ponder to when I first picked this medium up.


We had a photo shoot for the robotics team we were a part of in highschool, my brother is the coolest Every highschooler needs some dramatic shots laying down We can play with cameras, wigs and mirrors!?!

B/W Film

2017

An early exploration of black and white 35mm photography using a retired camera from the school. How bright and nice light looks in this medium, think I want to keep painting with it. Oh wait, that is the etymology of photography!

Legends tell that she ripped her jeans badly that day I lost these sunglasses and I miss them so much, at least they didn't fall into the water when I was climbing onto a fallen tree for this shot I will romanticize public transit, I will wait for the train, I love seeing the walks of life varying in each ride

Self-Expiration

2018

Self-portraits shot using expired 35mm film during my first months in Toronto. The expiration shows with the increased grain and reduced contrast. To compensate I increased the depths of shadows and saturation with Photoshop.

A sculpture hidden between trees They just don't decorate buildings like they used to, we must admire them from all angles Castles come in all shapes and sizes, and colours This was from my last day ever at a summer camp, I had to immortalize these magnificent rays breaking through a tree we made memories under

Bohemia

2017

Black and White 35mm film photos with the white edited to be a pastel colour, reminiscent of vintage hand painted photographs, to add a fresh spring feel to my work. I also like that they look like a dream, perfect for both definitions of Bohemia as an unconventional artsy space and also the western regions of Czech in which I captured these in.

Seeing my artwork covering so many yearbooks made me so excited about my potential, I started to really believe in myself For this shot I made the shadows much deeper using Photoshop, I wanted the candlelight to shine and a feeling of wandering into the unknown. I really should've given attention to the outlet still showing in the middle, breaking the illusion when you get a closer look. It is not my work in the graphic layout, but that is my photo taking up all that central real estate

Re-application

2017

In both grade 11 & 12, my art has been repurposed for the schools yearbook cover. Here is a Warhol inspired take on out new mascot from my senior yearbook. We were always the Nobles, now with our noble knight. A photo I took for the photography class "Candles" prompt has also made it to my graduation ceremony booklet cover.

It is so fun to move fingers around as the scanner moves across the bed, I love the rainbow effect from the refractions around hair. This shot is from high school These hands are just two high schoolers seeing how much they can do I found this really old Russian manual in some long forgotten box, perfect to cover parts of my face not hidden by my mask I was scanning the pages of my sketchbook when I thought of taking some selfies too when I was at it. If you notice my cathedral ring on the hand on the right, you can see it again contorted at the top left of my head from me moving my hand during the scan.

Scanography

2016-My Next Opportunity

Early and recent expeditions in scanography. I really love playing with the appearance of fingers and hands, multiplying and distorting simply with movement during exposure. The eerie feel draws me to repeat, posing with odd objects and trying new patterns of movement to see new outcomes.


My passion for all things print and packaging really took over when I started university, I stopped updating my bookstagram a few months into the program. I didn't really get the chance to pick up and play with a camera until 2020 when I was enrolled into a photography course as a part of my German exchange program. If you haven't calculated from the date already, then let me tell you myself that yeah that exchange didn't really happen as planned.

I was intended to do a very hands-on course so for our last minute transition to a virtual semester I was enrolled into my third choice program, a full circle moment back into Advertising. The photography classes quickly became my favourite as the teacher curated similar phenomenal vibes as my first photography teacher, providing us with an outlet for the frustration we were all going through. Another pleasant surprise from the program shift was the course in web design, providing me with the foundation of skills which allowed me to create this website.

Two years after graduation, I have yet to encounter someone else with a Bachelors in Technology without them being from the same program. Looking back, I was always more interested in the technical details of creation rather than the creation itself.

While I wasn't intently composing photos from youth, I sure did pick apart every camera my parents had, trying out all their functions, playing with the zoom and filters, testing their limits. Much like when my campus got a new printer format with greater capacities and I tested the mediums we could work with to create a guideline for the new prototype formats we could produce. Just some of the many reasons why a B.Tech suits me so well


My friend Laura and I being almost as slick as offset lithography Accepting an award for maintaining my scholarship, which occured for each of the four years I studied The collective of exchange students posed at our host university, before COVID crumbled us away I loved my time Germany, and I hope to keep loving it once I get to do a Master's degree in Packaging there

Learning Everywhere, Learning Always

2017-21

From labs to studying to maintain my scholarship to an exchange experience no one could predict, I made it through my Bachelors but I still have an unsatiable desire to keep learning.

I have a pen I have an apple I have a pineapple Pen Pineapple Apple pen

Pen Pineapple Apple Pen

2020

‘Pen Pineapple Apple Pen’ inspired self-portraits created for 'Song' photo series assignment from my german exchange semester. I used makeup to draw the pineapple and apple on my cheeks to draw from the lyrics. The moustache, glasses and leopard print jacket mimicking the artists look. Here is a link to the music video I was inspired by.

Of the series, mine is the only one shot at nighttime, representative as my schedule was controlled by my German classes taking place from 1-9 am He snacks, he drinks, he works He works, he smokes, he tries to read comics but the world is upside down She laughs with Tiktok, she smokes, she watches her lectures

Quarantine Routines

2020

The first project in my exchange photography course was to create a series inspired by COVID. This was in May when most came to accept that this was the new reality and routines specific to the era were established. Using multiple exposures I wanted to showcase this repetition of steps that may be the only thing that gets us through the day and onto the next when no ending was in sight. Subjects are myself and friends. (Recreational Cannabis use is legal in Canada, please follow your local laws)

Huge knockers Big butts do not lie. Disney eyes so big
Legs so long she could be a supermodel

Catfish

2020

With the prompt 'Catfish', I was inspired by the elements women often exaggerate when they catfish online, longer legs, bigger assets and cartoonish eyes. I took these elements to the extreme using photoshop and a vivid colour palette that delivers an unsettling effect matching the alien proportions.

Posing with my friend Laura and cartons shaped into our graduation year at GCM Alumni Night Being ever so proud when I was finally able to see a design I actually worked on in my local market

Graduating and Reaching New Levels

2017-21

I made a lifelong friend in this program. We have already done so many cool things both before and after graduation, I am so excited to see what dreams we achieve next.

This was my first digital camera, I wish it still worked as I've recently been drawn to early digitial cameras. I now go out with a small point and shoot from 2012, a good flash with a limited resolution. Our phones capture too many details these days that we forget to have fun Even as a baby I was fascinated by how things worked, here a wood & string kinetic toy. The first family greeting card I worked on, made in Microsoft Publisher at the peak of this regal horse meme. Faces removed for privacy The 2023 greeting card was the most fun to make, I sneakily took background photos while my family was preparing to pose together on the lake in our hometown. I also took photos of my mothers iconic holiday cookies. I printed everything out in different scales, cut it up and made this sick collage captured via photocopier.

Day 1 Fascination in the Methods of Making Anything

1999 - Until Death Do Us Part

Having an engineer as a father and a mother doing anything possible for my brother and I to expand our minds, not that my father wouldn't do the same but he had an expertise with technology and was always bringing home new tech and always ready with an answer on how things worked. My mom would sit patiently while I covered her face with every item of makeup she had, turning her into a monster of my creative expression. For as long as I can remember, we sent family greeting cards. When I started learning image manipulation and graphic layout with Microsoft Publisher I took over the making of these cards and my growth shows with every year. I am most proud of the 2023 scanographic collage card.