soul of the city

When returning to Toronto, I decided to challenge myself with a new approach to subject. Instead of following my intuition, I decided to photograph the opposite: the lesser-seen things — even less seductive than the landmarks that dot Toronto.

I'm titling this series "Soul of the City", in hopes of illustrating the innate beauty in the everyday: intersections, administrative buildings, private homes, schools, taxi's, transit vehicles and stations, new condominiums, and the growing cities within the city itself, teeming with life and intrigue.

I approach each scene with the aim not just to create a series, but an explorable world that you can look at twice and see something different. This is achieved with some self-imposed rules in timing and composition. For almost all of the images, I prioritized using the Canon 45mm TS-E f/2.8, paired with a Sony A7RIV and Sigma MC-11 adapter to control the aperture of the tilt-shift lens. I chose this lens due to my favouring a tighter composition and close-to-natural, or “normal,” focal length, and the advanced movements for compositional and creative control that a tilt-shift lens allows for. I chose fairly bright or flat days (subject-dependent) with favourable contrast, usually an hour to, or during golden hour, avoiding the exaggerated colour and dark shadows of sunset. These elements are meant to help translate the essence of these places rather than their entirety. I would leave this in my genre folder of street photography; however, if you saw my setup, you'd agree it represents anything but “street,” featuring a large metal tripod with a camera and lens that can take several seconds to a minute to set up (i apologize to all the motorists on Dupont street near Yorkville). I made many of these images during the fall of 2025, upon my return to Toronto after living outside of the city for more than five years.

To say my return electrified me would be an immense understatement. I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I now approach my subject with a refined view and technique honed in my landscape and nature photography. Aimed to add a hopeful, yet somber undertone to the daily sights of this beautiful city.

These places command attention, yet are overshadowed by the allure of the city's many landmarks and points of interest.

Ultimately, I hope you can feel what I feel when I walk through this amazing town — from the traffic-laden streets to hot dog vendors at strategic intersections, subway buskers to nightclub lineups, bible pushers to local celebrities — and how this city is so ALIVE.

Welcome to soul of the city: by devin shaw