©Phil Sutherland
This holiday season, I had the incredible opportunity to host a photo event in collaboration with the West Toronto Photography Group (www.wtpg.ngo) to collect non-perishable food donations for the Daily Bread Food Bank. The event was such an overwhelming success, and I’m so grateful for everyone who came together to make it happen.
We were lucky to have Elinchrom flashes (including the ELC HD Pro 500 and 1000) on hand, providing us with the perfect lighting to create stunning images throughout the day. The event was held at the Music Building on the Exhibition Place grounds — a truly iconic and unique structure featuring three octagonal domes connected to form a triangular shape. The building, designed by architect George W. Gouinlock, provided a whimsical and striking backdrop that perfectly complemented the creativity of our event.
©Chris Mese
A Fantastic Team Behind the Scenes
We were joined by an amazing team of volunteers, without whom this event wouldn’t have been possible. A big thank you to designer Yvonne Teachman for bringing her beautiful creations, which were worn by our talented model, Dee W (@gothstepmamii). Dee’s energy and presence brought the outfits to life, making for some truly magical moments during our lighting workshop.
Lisa Kruchack, Manager at Revprint Studio 205 (www.revprint.com), was our expert lighting tech for the day. Her technical skill and expertise helped us create some truly extraordinary lighting in such a stunning space. The results were absolutely breathtaking!
Grateful for the Generosity of Our Community
Thanks to the generosity of all the photographers and attendees who came out, we collected a heartwarming and substantial amount of non-perishable food for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Your donations will help feed those in need during the holiday season, and I’m so proud of the collective impact we made.
I firmly believe that art can be a catalyst for change and community growth, and this event was a perfect example of how creativity can bring people together to make a positive difference. The love for photography, lighting, and the holiday spirit truly shone through, and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.
©Kevin Proulx
Special Thanks:
- Yvonne Teachman for the beautiful outfit.
- Dee W for modeling and lending her time and talent to the cause.
- Kevin Proulx and Chris Mese for capturing behind-the-scenes moments and helping with the set-up and takedown.
- Fiona and the Exhibition Place team for making the event venue available for the event.
- Lisa Kruchack for handling the logistics and set-up with such expertise.
- Elinchrom for the amazing lights and deep support of our events throughout the year
I am so grateful for the support of the photographers who joined us and the volunteers who helped make this event a success. It’s moments like these that replenish my optimism and faith in our arts community and energize my drive to keep working on community events in Toronto. The holiday spirit was alive and well, and it was truly inspiring to see the generosity of everyone involved.
Looking ahead, I’m excited about hosting more events like this in 2025 at Exhibition Place, and I can’t wait to see how we can continue to make a difference through the power of art and photography in the community.
Thank you all for making this event so special and impactful!
Phil Sutherland
Elinchrom Ambassador
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About Phil Sutherland and WTPG
Phil Sutherland is the founder and director of WTPG and has been organizing lighting workshops and photography workshops in the GTA for 15 years. He is the owner of Revprint Studio 205 (www.revprint.com) – Toronto’s premier facilitated rental Photography studio and a professional commercial photographer for 25 years.
A self-described “lighting nut”, he has produced public Light Art for the Amsterdam Light Festival and teaches photography internationally.
The West Toronto Photography Group is a not-for-profit arts group created in 2011 to help artists access photography and digital arts studio spaces, workshops and to help the general community through arts and fundraising.
If you enjoy photography and are looking to shoot in studio and on location and share your enthusiasm with our community of artists of all levels. We offer our workshops at our cost to allow everyone to participate in our events, our professional instructors are sharing their time and expertise to help inspire and contribute back to the community. We hire local and international talent to work with our group (models and MUA / hair stylists).
Please come join us for a workshop! We look forward to shooting and sharing with you!
Come set your creativity free! Photography Workshops | West Toronto Photography Group | Toronto (wtpg.ngo)
