Khaoula (Kashmir)
- Aperture: f/1.2
- ISO: 3200
- Shutter Speed: 1/100 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Baramulla, Kashmir (India) | Khaoula lived in Kashmir during the peak of the armed insurgency and remembers the situation as dire. Her father was involved in separatist politics, and as a child she recalls visiting him in an interrogation centre, where he had been held as a political prisoner. She witnessed first-hand why…
Khydup (Tibet)
- Aperture: f/2.2
- ISO: 2000
- Shutter Speed: 1/200 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Amdo Ngawa, Tibet (China) | Khydup met Julie while he was still living in India, and they were teaching each other their respective languages. Soon after, they fell in love and left for Toronto. Canadian citizenship provided Khydup with something he calls a “rebirth,” with the ability to serve humanity according to…
Winnie (Macau)
- Aperture: f/2
- ISO: 1000
- Shutter Speed: 1/40 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Macau (China) | When Macau, a former Portuguese colony, was transferred back to China in 1999, Winnie’s parents were afraid of the new Chinese leadership and the impact that might have on their personal freedoms. She remembers arriving in Canada and being welcomed by her first snowfall – something she had never…
Sandra (Toronto)
- Aperture: f/3.5
- ISO: 640
- Shutter Speed: 1/1600 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Toronto, Canada | Sandra is a sixth generation Canadian and a retired elementary school teacher (specializing in Computer Education and Learning Disabilities). Other than ten years she spent in Montreal, she has lived in Toronto for her entire life. Sandra can trace her roots back to both Germany and Britain. In 1776…
Charlene (Antigua and Barbuda)
- Aperture: f/5.6
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/250 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Liberta Village, Antigua and Barbuda | Charlene describes Toronto as “the first home I ever knew,” having arrived in the city the day after her first birthday. When she was four, her family moved back to Liberta Village, Antigua for her to start school. She remembers being called a foreigner by the…
Calum (Scotland)
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 640
- Shutter Speed: 1/125 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Alexandria, Scotland (U.K.) | Calum first visited Toronto in the summer of 2001, traveling with a school friend and staying with the friend’s aunt and uncle. “I spent three amazing weeks here, and on the last day someone asked if I could see myself living here. The answer was yes, and that…
Graciella (Burundi)
- Aperture: f/3.5
- ISO: 100
- Shutter Speed: 1/1600 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Bujumbura, Burundi | Graciella came here alone, two and half years ago, as a refugee – leaving her family behind. Burundi was, and still is, suffering from a civil war, one with both ethnicity and religion as focal points. Graciella appreciates that as a woman in Canada she can pursue a career…
Ernest (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 250
- Shutter Speed: 1/8000 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis | Ernest’s mother emigrated to the United Kingdom to seek better opportunities both for herself and her kids, and at the age of thirteen, Ernest followed. While living there he visited his sister in Canada and fell in love with this country. Then, at the age of…
Bahzad (Kurdistan)
- Aperture: f/2.5
- ISO: 1600
- Shutter Speed: 1/160 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Saqez, Kurdistan (Iran) | Bahzad identifies as Kurdish, a part of the largest ethnic minority in the world without a recognized state. Kurdistan is divided between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey – and the Kurds have faced centuries of political, social, cultural and ethnic oppression. In Iran, studying Kurdish is prohibited, Bahzad…
Mohamed (Algeria)
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 200
- Shutter Speed: 1/800 s
- Focal Length: 50mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Born in Algiers, Algeria | When Mohamed was ten years old the Algerian military interrupted the first democratic elections to be held in the country, igniting a civil war that would last a decade. Over 100,000 people lost their lives, and Mohamed would be a witness to great suffering and violence. Seven years after the end of the civil war,…