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Sir Richard Branson @ Bota Bota

By Event
While working as Art Director of RSVP Magazine, I was to cover a party on the floating spa Bota Bota. I thought I’d take a few snaps over an hour or two and take off, but once there I was told that I was the event photographer for the party, so it was up to me to document the whole evenings. It was Sir Richard Branson’s party: he was in town for several reasons: He had bought the naming rights for Virgin to the Corona Theatre in Little Burgundy. The event itself fundraised for Virgin Unite, his philanthropic foundation–while he donated the total ticket fees ($100,000) to Dans la Rue. He was also supporting his Formula One team, and opening the first Virgin Mobile store in Canada.

Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana were in town, and I managed to snap only one pic of the former in his baseball cap. I’m by no means interested in being parapazzi, so I didn’t chase after them… but I also wasn’t sure who he was at the time! Our magazine was given out to guests of this event, and one of my photos became the next issue’s cover.

Lee

By Food, Photo
Susur Lee is one of Canada and specifically Toronto’s best-known chefs, and lately he’s been seeing even more fame with his fast food flip TikTok videos done with his son Jet. These are from when I got to try his iconic Singapore Slaw. Unpublished, but it was when I was working on two short-lived TO magazines.