Ordinary people, extraordinary lives -- photographing the world | Colin Boyd Shafer | TEDxToronto

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In his project “Cosmopolis”, Toronto-based photographer Colin Boyd Shafer takes a portrait of a different Torontonian from every country in the world. In this thoughtful and inspiring TEDxToronto talk, Colin helps demonstrate the power of human connection through personal story, while teaching us that sometimes the best stories are the ones from those we least expect.


Colin Boyd Shafer is an award-winning Canadian documentary photographer and high school teacher. He holds an MSc in Political Economy of Violence Conflict and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Shafer is the winner of the 2014 Toronto Urban Photography Festival’s Global Building Giants Award for his work on the documentary photography series Cosmopolis Toronto. The project has been featured in the Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, Toronto Life, CTV, CBC, and Global National News, among others.


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