About the Photographer, Annie Tong
I understand more than ever that my photography is now and always has been about people, even when no one is there. Truth be told, I think it’s because I am more interested in the photo shoot than the photograph, more fascinated by the subject than creating the artwork. If the photograph turns out to be special, I am more than happy to relinquish all credit.
I have always been intrigued by the beauty of the ordinary, and always looked to reveal this in my photography.
In recent years I’ve explored different themes within documentary-style portraiture, and until recently I’ve had a full-time gig as the photographer for Sinai Health in Toronto Canada, spending most of my time behind the camera photographing essential workers throughout a network of health care facilities.
I’ve always been intrigued by the beauty of the ordinary, and have always looked to ‘the everyday of life’ for my inspiration. Whether as a traveler seeking to understand a day in the life of others, or in my role as a health care photographer seeking to reveal the ordinary elements of otherwise extraordinary circumstances of life, my photography strives to be both uneventful and familiar, celebrating the beauty of everyday life.
Strategy Session: Annie Tong reviews the strategy for conducting an afternoon photoshoot in a small village in the Patuakhali District of southern Bangladesh.
A Street Portraits Exhibition at Artscape Youngplace in Toronto, and the beginning of The Everyday of Life
While travelling in India in early 2014 my photography began to focus on street portraits and, for the first time, on close-up head shots. I don’t recall this ever being a deliberate decision, but the more I shot in the streets of Kolkata, Chennai and other cities in India, the more I became captivated by the faces and personalities of the people who posed for me. Without realizing it at the time, these photographs were the seed of an idea for a long-term photography project that I would soon refer to as The Everyday of Life.
Street Portraits Exhibition, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto Canada.
I wanted the Artscape exhibition to let others experience what I was feeling when I shot the portraits – how, when you look closely enough at anyone, anyone in the whole world, you can appreciate and value them as individuals even without knowing who they are or the life they live. I thought it was important to let the subjects speak for themselves, and so I chose to title each of the portraits ‘Me’ in hope that the viewers would feel a sense of intimacy with each of them, even without knowing anything about them or the lives they live.
It wasn’t at all obvious to me at the time, but in 2014 while travelling India and becoming immersed in street portrait photography, I was secretly trying to find a way to do this all the time, to see the world and how people live, and to appreciate how different all our lives can be while also being so much the same. Little did I know that for the years that would follow and to this day I would be plotting my escape into the everyday of life in the world around me.
Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival: A year in the life of essential workers at Sinai Health.
From 2010 to 2019 I had the good fortune to work as full time photographer for an important and growing healthcare organization in Toronto Canada. Sinai Health is a network of hospital, research, community, and home healthcare providers.
In the spring of 2016 I proposed enhancing our @SinaiHealthToronto Instagram account with a more candid photographs and a behind the scenes look at the day to day life of this healthcare network. The goal was to let people see the faces of all the essential workers who dedicate themselves to helping others. A photo-a-day idea turned into year-long project of 365 photographs for Sinai Health, and eventually became a popular and impactful exhibition that ran as a part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto Canada. The exhibition included all 365 photographs – a year in the life of essential workers at Sinai Health.
When you have time, follow the link below to the Photography Blog on my portfolio website and enjoy the full story and images of Sinai365 (and some of my other posts.)
When you look hard enough at where you are in life it can sometimes appear as though a road lead directly here. (This is very doubtful.)
I would even go so far as to say that the most important things that have shaped the way I see and live in the world, don’t even appear on the map. They have often been the least expected turn of events, and at the time even seeming the least significant. The best I can do for you to round off this bio page it tell you about four simple things that have felt important, and that I think of fondly.
Photographer at Sinai Health. I was the photographer at Sinai Health from 2010 to 2019 and could never have imagined that a ‘full-time job’ could be so rewarding and would connect me to so many wonderful, caring people.
sinaihealth.ca
Assistant to Yuri Dojc. I don’t know how I ended up being Yuri’s assistant from 1991 to 1994,
but working with this brilliant photographer has had a lasting impact on my career, not to mention
a lasting friendship to this day.
yuridojc.com
Gallery 44. I have been an active member of Gallery 44 for the past several years and enjoy the community of photographers who continue to challenge and support one another. G44 is the quintessential artist run centre.
gallery44.org
Sheridan College. Attending Sheridan College in the late 80’s was an important first step in my committing to photography as a profession. (Hello dear friends and classmates. I still have many photos from our time together.)
sheridancollege.ca