I waited three hours only to find out Neil was not going to sit for his portrait. He had just screened a film and I was all set up in a corned off section of Fran’s Restaurant across the street from Massey Hall, this where he was doing his press. The room was filled with his people all waiting as if they had done this a million times. Patient. The women were dressed like contemporary hippies, American Indigenous wardrobes, turquoise bracelets. The men more jams, chef pants with fresh Vans sneakers, ironed baggie t shirts w whales on them. As Neil wrapped his final print interview his legendary Manager Elliot Roberts says Neil doesn’t wanna sit for a portrait. I insist. It worked. Neil walks over, I guide him to my lill set. I ask him if he would take off his hat and jacket. Elliot looks at me like, OMG ! And now you’re talking to him !?
I shoot about 6 frames. Elliot says ok ok. I know I don’t have a picture yet. Neil was talking and not focused on me at all. He gets up and starts to walk. I look to my assistant. She shrugs her shoulder. I say kind sir, Neil ! Please sit. I go to the chair and mimic the pose I want him to do. He walks back, sits. Does the exact thing I did. I shoot one frame. He says “did you get it Christopher ?”
My lesson learnt from this gig is that sometimes the image can only reflect your time spent with the subject. Grumpy Neil. I like the picture. Makes me smile. #neilyoung
Patti Smith. We met in a hotel lobby, she was accompanied by no one which was very cool to me. She was artfully wearing a men’s blazer and I noticed the dry cleaning tag was still on the upper button hole. Her level of I don’t give a shit is unmatched cool. I explain that I have set up a lill’ window lit stool and backdrop in a room around the corner she agreed to sit. As we walked in, I got a glimpse of the back of her head and her amazing unkept hair. We chatted, spoke of art and paintings briefly before I raised the camera. Her countenance was one of who was truly hating the process of being photographed, in no mood to be revealed, my camera was close. I asked if I could photograph her from behind. She turned and sat, instantly her energy was relaxed and calm. She was ready to share. I made three frames. I like this picture. Patti is inimitable.
The Maple Leafs lose game 7 of the 2025 Eastern Conference 2nd Round ending their season on home ice. The Leafs lost 6 -1, an embarrassing performance for the legions of fans who bled blue since their last Stanley Cup Victory in 1967. My son had a hockey coach who would stupidly say to the kids, “win or lose hit the booze.” Accurate for any non profession athlete, it is just a game. Safety, fun, fitness, was my motto while watching my boy play, I just hoped no one got hurt. But watching the Leafs lose every year hurts in a different way. It was important to me to be in the building that night, putting my time in, hopefully on route to photographing the celebration on ice, a championship team portrait posing with the Stanley Cup shot on film with my Hasselblad. Sports pictures are made these ways ; A"jubo", (a players jubilation post score reaction). An "iso", (a clean isolated, well composed picture of the player not really identifying the action of the game, but great for a hockey card.) And "deject", voila. Dejection. No one puts this picture on their wall but it does tell this story. The Leafs are very much part of my Canadian identity and I will always bleed blue. I hope this isn’t the image of the our Maple Leafs that will best define them in my lifetime.
Go leafs go.
Rodney Clark, father to Bronwen and Eamon, passed away.
He was the oysterman who founded Rodneys Oyster House.
Rodney’s is my fav resto in the world. I have been going since I was brought as a child to the restaurant’s first location, it was like walking into a house party. I was too young to participate but i saw things i won’t say here and I took it all in. Today’s Rodney’s has a continued energy, a love for seafood, oyster minded people, champion oyster shuckers that don’t take shit but will love you back. They treat all people the same, be it the guy wearing a fancy suit and spending a fortune or the guy who saved up to buy a plate of his fav oysters. It has regulars and for the most part all get along, chat while sitting at the bar feasting and sharing. I will remember fondly Rodney hanging over my shoulder, his hands in my food, eating off my plate while telling some epic film script worthy story. Teaching moments. My love to his family and staff. This picture I made at his home in PEI, where he hosted family, friends and staff in the Summer. He was a kind man to me, I am better off to have known him.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Photographing politicians: We have a preset opinion of elected officials when we see their image. My job requires I do not express mine but attempt to create an equal backdrop for discussion. Photographed in the Premier’s office in Queens Park, a typical room like many others in a remarkably beautiful structure built in 1892. Ford does not sit as his desk; he says it is “for the people.” Inspired by the work of Peggy Sirota’s book “Guess who”, where her famous subjects are photographed unrecognizable, almost in hiding. Ford that day was very open to my direction; I think he and his career are definable even from behind. #dougford
Naomi Osaka. Number one tennis player in the world at one point. A new mother. An activist, and advocate for mental health. The highest earning female athlete for many years. Turned pro at 16. Now 27 and still wants to kick ass. Go Naomi go.
Claudia Schiffer was at the Toronto International Film Festival to promote the ensemble film
Black & White. I was assigned to photograph Raekwon, from Wu-Tang Clan. The private room I photographed him in had all the actors from the film in it. Jared Leto, Method Man, Robert Downey Jr. .. It was
in a closed-off, horrible hotel bar. I made my picture of Raekwon but wanted Claudia.
Publicists back in the day were the natural enemies of photographers, protective of their clients and seldom open to creative ideas. They circled in the madness of this room. I approached Claudia, bypassing her publicist in the party-like environment. She seemed flattered that I asked to make her portrait .. I said, “Can we go by the window?” She said, “Let’s do it on the sofa.” (I’ am thinking, “The light is shit there but ok.”) Claudia sits on the sofa. Very proper: knees together, heels up, hands on knees. Noticing her lack of shoes, I said something like, “Is there a way I could photograph you accentuating your feet?” With no further direction. She laid on her belly in the bar room couch. I shot two frames. I was in full OMG mode. The whole room went silent watching me make this portrait. She got up and said, “That was fun! I hope we made a nice picture.” We hugged it out. I turned back to see every
eye in the room wide and staring at me – eyebrows at the tops of everyone’s foreheads. It felt pretty amazing.
Raekwon walked over to me, a beer in each hand, passed me a Heineken, almost in
congratulation, and said, “You shoulda photographed me that way.”
Big Lonely Doug, Port Renfrew BC. Canada’s the second largest Douglas Fir. The height of a twenty storey building, sixty plus meters tall, nearly four meters wide and almost twelve meters in circumference, BLD is approximately 1000+ years old. This tree is a behemoth, and absolute magic to see in person. For further conservational awareness please follow @ancientforestalliance 🇨🇦 #shotonfilm #hasselblad #NatGeoPOY2023
Tony Montana from the archive. I go into each job wanting to make my best work possible. Mr Pacino just was not capable of giving me everything he had in the minutes spent with him. I did try. I was a huge Scarface fan and I wanted “Tony”, a huge ask. In the nine frames this was the only one close to intimacy. I almost like it, but it’s not the image of Al I will think of when I hear his name. As a portrait photographer I thrive for that. I am likely not going to photograph him again so my take away is, every great assignment may not produce my expected aspiration. If I walked into this gig again I would do the same thing, same courting dance of kindness and interest. I would be prepared, pro, polite, quiet and humble. I will keep my goals high will not take anything for granted. I will wake up and do it again tomorrow. I say to myself. If this was The New York Times Magazine. What would I do different ? Good pictures are hard to make.
