GET BACK // first, we take the 505

Inspired by David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton’s Young Idea Goes West’ from January of 1962. That project featured two British nationals venturing around New York City, with no team or stylist. Shying away from iconic landmarks in favour of more real, down-to-earth spots. Bailey shot in a Journalistic style - shooting black and white 35mm without a tripod. This stood out from its fashion contemporaries at the time. Unlike Shrimpton and Bailey with Manhattan, Shuana and I are no strangers to Toronto. We sought places that were lived in but also not overly captured. We elected to travel through Chinatown West and its surrounding alleys, stopping for spots overtaken with graffiti off the beaten path. We avoided as many anachronisms as we could. Dodging people on E-scooters and trying our best to keep anything contemporary out of our shots. The title comes from the BBC 2012 film about Jean and Shrimpton’s work; “First We Take Manhattan” - I liked that title and its origin from a Leonard Cohe