Well isn’t this fun, a photo and video person attempting to write! Well sort of… as you probably already saw I skipped over the blinking cursor on the first post here and decided instead to go right into video.
If you’ve already watched the video, thank you and nice to meet you! I’m a full time photographer, filmmaker, and general documenter of the arts here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
You can see some of my photography here and video here
I’ve been enjoying spending more time over here on Substack, the longer form and higher quality of writing here has been reminding me of the earlier blogging days and thats very refreshing these days.
Why Substack?
I feel like there is a lot of great discourse here on Substack and personally it has been my favourite place to go to for inspiration. So naturally I’ve been thinking about how best to show up here.
This year I want to challenge myself to share my work and more about the creative process and problem solving that goes into it. I’m aiming for this Substack to be a regular outlet to share not just finished work, but also side projects and explorations.
It doesn’t have to be good, completed, or perfect to be a topic on here.
Why Truth to Materials?
If you were to google search the term, you’d find that wikipedia defines the phrase as:
Truth to materials is a tenet of modern architecture, which holds that any material should be used where it is most appropriate and its nature should not be hidden.”
or even before you can get there, Google’s AI summary defines the phrase as:
"Truth to materials" is a design and architectural philosophy, rooted in Modernism and the Bauhaus movement, that advocates for using materials in their most honest, natural state. It emphasizes showcasing the inherent textures, properties, and structural qualities of materials—such as raw concrete, timber, or metal—without covering them with paint, veneers, or artificial finishes. This approach argues that materials should be used appropriately and their, often, constructed, appearance celebrated.
I first heard this term in my high school art class growing up in the suburbs and it really stuck with me, apart from it’s meaning relating to modern architecture, I just really latched onto the idea of highlighting and celebrating something for what it is, as opposed to hiding its structure (or in this case process) behind a facade.
When you think about what social media has become, it’s almost entirely a facade, fabricated and not truthful at all. People portraying their lives as highlight reels, and acting out the life they want, but not as it is.
So looking at my list (ya there’s a short list) of domains I’ve registered over the years, www.truthtomaterials.com felt to meet the moment here in 2026 and felt like a pretty good name for a newsletter about my creative process.
So What Can You Expect here?
Thats a good question you can expect future posts to include:
some behind the scenes,
some reflections on my day to day commissioned work,
and some posts looking back at work in my archives.
Through all of this, I’m just hoping to connect with other creatives, both local and around the world. So go ahead and subscribe. Lots more to come.
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No AI was used in the writing or creation of this post ✌️
You can also find me on, Instagram / Threads / Vimeo and my portfolio
