Mans of Toronto

After almost three years of inactivity, we are so happy to finally be posting our fellow Torontonians' stories again. These past few years have been a learning term for the team and we are more ready than ever to showcase some of the amazing people we've met along the way. In light of this global pandemic, we decided to head back onto the streets of Toronto and see how the quarantine has affected people in their everyday lives. Welcome to MOT 2020!

"I'm a homeless guy though this is my home, and I spend as much time here as I can. I became homeless about a year and a half ago and it's one of those things that when it happens to you it's like your life has been destroyed and it's all over, but somehow by god's grace this has become one of the richest blessings of life. What I do here is inherently fun, it's good for your bodyI've lost probably 50 pounds. Slacklining has motivated me to do other physical things, which is... the part of my life that I've ignored because I'm usually more creative. I am a Christian children's book writer, and interestingly I had just been published but my publishing company just went out of business, which is another thing like a grenade coming through the window. But it wasn't all that bad because it left me with a license and a finished product. My book's character's story was made during a period of struggle for me and one of the darkest nights of my life. And sometimes when you write, you put your character in a terrible situation which is called putting your character up in a tree. That's because after you put them up there, the story is how they get down, and in some ways that's lifebeing homeless was my tree, and I'm slowly bringing things down and back together." See more

"I'm in tech, so I actually focus on education tech. Essentially targeting professors to use digital textbooks instead of standard texts, a bit of a startup that's been growing lately. I took economics at the University of Guelph and came into the industry, I've only been in it for a month now. I used to self-found, so I'm completely changing my industry. I think it's important to gain momentum to the point where you're comfortable in your job and you feel like the expert. I ...mean it's difficult for anyone at a young age." "I'm also in the technology industry, so I'm in marketing for the company that I work for. Our goal is to replace the password with biometrics. I originally was in Kinesiology because I was into sports and I thought that was the way to gowasn't really into it so I took art history and my parents said 'you can't graduate with an art history degree', so I also took business on the side of that. I want to stay in my industry because I am interested in seeing where the company goes. I think the hardest challenge I faced was getting a job that you like in an industry you're interested in, and being able to stay there."

"I'm from down here, I live down in Oshawa right now, but I'm Toronto born. Right now I'm a cinematographer, I started off as an animator and visual effects artist. I worked in concept art, matte painting. When I lived in Japan I transferred over and started working in cinematography. I got pulled into a gig doing photography for some DJs running around the country, and I decided to become a cinematographer. So I've been shooting music videos and things like that ever since. ...Ultimately I'm building a brand and a company and I'm integrating media in different forms with my friends back in Japan and here, so I'm going to be blending different things together. My biggest challenge has been building up a reel, getting people to trust me for their first projects and getting in. After that point it's just a matter of shooting and shooting and building scale." See more

"I'm originally from Jamaica, but I live in Toronto. I function a lot in Kensington MarketKensington Market Drummer is my title actually. I busk there often, and around the Eaton Centre, and Lakeshore. I've been drumming for fifteen years, but seven years with a busking permit. I learnt drumming very recently, fifteen years is recent. I'm 45, first learned it, and it's very unique. Beyond that I did the pan, harmonica, and synthesizer in high school. I have a 4 track CD in SOCAN, then I started playing the instrument, and now that is all I doI panhandle, I busk, I perform in clubs, I play with DJs, I even do studio recording."

After almost three years of inactivity, we are so happy to finally be posting our fellow Torontonians' stories again. These past few years have been a learning term for the team and we are more ready than ever to showcase some of the amazing people we've met along the way. In light of this global pandemic, we decided to head back onto the streets of Toronto and see how the quarantine has affected people in their everyday lives. Welcome to MOT 2020!

"I'm a homeless guy though this is my home, and I spend as much time here as I can. I became homeless about a year and a half ago and it's one of those things that when it happens to you it's like your life has been destroyed and it's all over, but somehow by god's grace this has become one of the richest blessings of life. What I do here is inherently fun, it's good for your bodyI've lost probably 50 pounds. Slacklining has motivated me to do other physical things, which is... the part of my life that I've ignored because I'm usually more creative. I am a Christian children's book writer, and interestingly I had just been published but my publishing company just went out of business, which is another thing like a grenade coming through the window. But it wasn't all that bad because it left me with a license and a finished product. My book's character's story was made during a period of struggle for me and one of the darkest nights of my life. And sometimes when you write, you put your character in a terrible situation which is called putting your character up in a tree. That's because after you put them up there, the story is how they get down, and in some ways that's lifebeing homeless was my tree, and I'm slowly bringing things down and back together." See more

"I'm in tech, so I actually focus on education tech. Essentially targeting professors to use digital textbooks instead of standard texts, a bit of a startup that's been growing lately. I took economics at the University of Guelph and came into the industry, I've only been in it for a month now. I used to self-found, so I'm completely changing my industry. I think it's important to gain momentum to the point where you're comfortable in your job and you feel like the expert. I ...mean it's difficult for anyone at a young age." "I'm also in the technology industry, so I'm in marketing for the company that I work for. Our goal is to replace the password with biometrics. I originally was in Kinesiology because I was into sports and I thought that was the way to gowasn't really into it so I took art history and my parents said 'you can't graduate with an art history degree', so I also took business on the side of that. I want to stay in my industry because I am interested in seeing where the company goes. I think the hardest challenge I faced was getting a job that you like in an industry you're interested in, and being able to stay there."

"I'm from down here, I live down in Oshawa right now, but I'm Toronto born. Right now I'm a cinematographer, I started off as an animator and visual effects artist. I worked in concept art, matte painting. When I lived in Japan I transferred over and started working in cinematography. I got pulled into a gig doing photography for some DJs running around the country, and I decided to become a cinematographer. So I've been shooting music videos and things like that ever since. ...Ultimately I'm building a brand and a company and I'm integrating media in different forms with my friends back in Japan and here, so I'm going to be blending different things together. My biggest challenge has been building up a reel, getting people to trust me for their first projects and getting in. After that point it's just a matter of shooting and shooting and building scale." See more

"I'm originally from Jamaica, but I live in Toronto. I function a lot in Kensington MarketKensington Market Drummer is my title actually. I busk there often, and around the Eaton Centre, and Lakeshore. I've been drumming for fifteen years, but seven years with a busking permit. I learnt drumming very recently, fifteen years is recent. I'm 45, first learned it, and it's very unique. Beyond that I did the pan, harmonica, and synthesizer in high school. I have a 4 track CD in SOCAN, then I started playing the instrument, and now that is all I doI panhandle, I busk, I perform in clubs, I play with DJs, I even do studio recording."