The Canon FUTURES Program Graduation 2023

The Canon FUTURES Program Year 2 Graduating Cohort, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

One of the most fulfilling aspects of my career, especially in recent years, has been contributing to the Canon FUTURES program as a mentor.

For those unfamiliar, the Canon FUTURES program is a 12-month mentorship journey designed to equip passionate, emerging creators and storytellers, ages 20 to 25, with the opportunity to broaden their creative spectrum, expand their knowledge of the business and their craft, create community with peers across Canada, and further develop their skills and network (via Canon Canada).

My contribution to the program has been defined by a workshop and assignment I developed entitled Work On Yourself More Than You Work On Your Craft.

Work On Yourself More Than You Work On Your Craft is based on the premise that being an aspiring or professional creator requires far more than the technical skills often associated with photography, filmmaking, and other related art forms and creative fields. It is also based on the premise that a lack of personal development and introspection as an aspiring professional creator or professional creator inevitably leads to many self-imposed and self-defeating problems that can last years or decades, especially within business.

Through the FUTURES program, I have taught the inner game of being a professional creator, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, meditation, transcending limiting beliefs, the psychology of money, the importance of clearly-defined values and boundaries, creating a unique value proposition, sales, and more; all areas that require one to look within, to work on oneself daily.

Teaching through the program (and elsewhere) has helped me reinforce the valuable lessons I have learned throughout my career (and other facets of my life) while also learning from the FUTURES program creators, who often have life experiences that vastly differ from mine. Some of them come from parts of Canada I have yet to visit, and all of them possess at least some knowledge I want to gain, as I am both a lifelong student and a teacher.

Canon FUTURES Creator: Ayanna Allen, Canon FUTURES Creator: Joel Lee, Canon FUTURES Creator: Randy Shao, Canon FUTURES Creator: Naomi Caufield, Canon FUTURES Creator: Yasmine Omar, Canon FUTURES Creator: Abraham Aristide, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Moreover, when contributing to the FUTURES program, it is as if I am speaking to much younger, past versions of myself, imparting wisdom on those past versions of myself that would have been incredibly valuable to me during my high school years or undergraduate studies, knowledge that would have prevented me from unnecessarily suffering during my entrepreneurial and artistic pursuits.

My mentors include but are not limited to Jamel Shabazz, a profound social activist and educator who is arguably New York City’s most prolific street photographer and documentarian of Black American history, Julien Christian Lutz, professionally known as Director X, who is Canada’s most accomplished music video director and a Canada’s Walk of Fame inductee (among many other accolades as a filmmaker and an advocate for mindfulness and meditation via the work we engage in together through Operation Prefrontal Cortex), and Ernie Panicolli, undoubtedly one of the most influential documentarians of hip-hop culture in American history, have positively shaped me in innumerable ways.

Such artists are rare, and on many occasions, they have steered me away from disasters and towards actualizing some of my most meaningful goals and dreams through their advice or example.

Even though most of my motivations are intrinsic, human beings are social animals that care about how our tribe(s) perceive us.

Thus, the fact that my mentors observe different facets of my career and my artwork online and in person inspires me to do my absolute best, which aligns with my internalization of the Japanese concept of kaizen, an idea I teach to the FUTURES creators each year, and which means “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.”

The mentorship I have provided through the FUTURES program has allowed me to pay the graciousness of my mentors forward.

Canon FUTURES Creator: Kyla White, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Following an existential crisis during the summer of 2014, working on myself more than I work on my crafts has ironically led me to improve my artwork and career in ways that would have been impossible otherwise, and my career path has never been as compelling or clear as it is today.

Moreover, I do not take for granted the fact that I have been given a rare opportunity to teach the creative leaders of tomorrow the knowledge that has been most beneficial to my career and artwork, knowledge primarily stemming from lessons that I did not learn in high school or university and that I acquired through a high volume of trial and error, disappointments, and various traumas, combined with thousands of hours of formal and informal education.

The FUTURES program is truly a program unlike any other; the fact that it is a primarily Canadian project is remarkable, and it evokes fond memories of my time in the Claude Watson Arts program, mainly due to the staggering talent pool and the strong camaraderie it fosters among participants.

It also resonates with the Pygmalion effect I experienced there, where high expectations and a supportive environment led to enhanced performance and personal growth.

The Claude Watson Arts Program is a specialized, Toronto-based, intensive arts education program that nurtures the artistic talents of students through a comprehensive and integrated curriculum in various art forms.

When I was part of the program, it began during the fourth grade and required a comprehensive and highly competitive audition process, arguably the most competitive in Canada.

Photographer, Canon Canada Ambassador: Jacquie Matechuk, Photographer, Canon Canada Ambassador: Kate Whyte, Canon FUTURES Creator: Yuk Vukovic, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

I grew up learning alongside many of Canada's most dynamic, talented and creative young artists, so it was fitting that I would teach in a similar environment.

However, unlike the Claude Watson Arts program, the FUTURES program teaches the creators essential facets of business and entrepreneurship.

On Thursday, 20 July 2023, following the successful end of year two of the FUTURES program, which began during the summer of 2022, the graduating FUTURES creators, along with me, other Canon Canada ambassadors who were mentors through the program, executives from Canon Canada and 7 Communications, met for the FUTURES program graduation ceremony. It took place at the historic Broadview Hotel in Toronto, a 131-year-old, completely-restored landmark transformed into a modern boutique hotel in Toronto's east end.

The ceremony occurred in a beautiful, spacious private area with high ceilings on the hotel’s first floor, a bar, long wooden dining tables, and a pop-up photography studio to capture portraits of the grateful graduating creators.

Like the first FUTURES program graduation ceremony I attended about a year earlier at my longtime colleague Cais MukhaMukhayesh'sgallery gallery, Only One Gallery in Toronto, the excitement and gratitude emanating from the graduating creators was palpable.

Once I entered the graduation ceremony space, despite most patrons slowly trickling in, I could hear and see that the FUTURES creators were thankful for the opportunity to learn through and contribute to an ecosystem of like-minded creators and mentors.

Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Laid out on the distinctive dinner tables were the FUTURES program yearbooks featuring the by-product of Canon’s stellar printing services and closing statements by the program mentors and me, among other thoughtful features.

As the venue quickly began to fill with more bodies, the creators eagerly signed their yearbooks and those assigned to the program’s mentors. I am thankful for everyone that signed my yearbook.

It was amazing to see the fruitful relationships that were manifested through the program.

Mono no aware is a Japanese term that reflects the concept of things slowly dying or the beauty of transient and fading life is

It embodies a poignant, reflective awareness of impermanence and the transient nature of all things, often evoking a gentle sadness or empathy toward their passing.

I experienced mono no aware during the first half of last summer’s FUTURES program graduation ceremony.

Canon FUTURES Creator: Keaton Kirchner, Senior Director, Customer Experience: Brett Gaskell, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Although I knew, and still know, that the fantastic relationships that were created through the FUTURES program will endure for years or decades, along with the valuable knowledge that the FUTURES graduates acquired, they will never again participate in the program in the same ways they did throughout their year as FUTURES creators.

Once dinner began, Brett Gaskell, Senior Director, Customer Experience at Canon Canada, and Nicholas Tomic, Senior Marketing Communications Manager at Canon Canada, gave their opening remarks, congratulating the creators on their accomplishments and graduation from the program.

They also thanked Yasmine Perez-Achig, Content And Event Production Specialist at Canon Canada, and Aimee Maiatico and Sydney Peck of 7 Communications, a luxury lifestyle and branding agency focused on creating brand intimacy at scale, for their significant contributions to the program.

7 Communications as a whole were, and still are, essential to the success of the FUTURES program, overseeing its operations and marketing, among other facets.

Nicholas, who I refer to as Nick, also reminded the creators that although the program has ended for them, they are still a part of the FUTURES and Canon Creator Lab ecosystem, and Canon Canada’s door is always open to them.

The food and refreshments we enjoyed soon after were excellent; I found joy surrounded by the happiness and laughter of the creators and my many colleagues.

At dinner, Brett sat one seat away from me while I sat beside FUTURES creator Naomi Caufield and across from creators Kyla Whyte and Keaton Kirchner.

I enjoyed learning about the varied experiences and plans of the creators throughout dinner and other parts of the graduation event.

Furthermore, it was fascinating and fun to catch up with and, in some cases, meet my fellow Canon Canada ambassadors, some of whom travelled from very remote parts of Canada, after dinner, specifically Kate Whyte, Jacuie Matechuk, Kishan Mistry, Justin Wu, and Irene Rudnyk, all of whom are very talented.

The graduation ceremony ended with the 7 Communications team revealing a secret art exhibit of the graduating creators’ strongest pieces produced during their time in the FUTURES program, and much like the first Canon FUTURES graduation ceremony about a year earlier, the creators were deeply moved by seeing their work printed and framed, and many of the creators were brought to tears.

The Canon FUTURES program was one of my many 2023 highlights, and I am excited about adding more value to the program in 2024.

Next year, I will be streamlining my FUTURES program workshop so that it is slightly more transparent how each slide and activity contributes to the thesis of Work On Yourself More Than You Work On Your Craft.

Canon FUTURES Creator: Taylor Patterson, Canon FUTURES Creator: Kyla White, Location: The Broadview Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2023, Photographer: Ajani Charles

I have complete faith that the FUTURES creators from the program's first two years will continue to do great things that benefit them, their communities, Canada, and humanity in 2024 and beyond.

By having a positive impact on them, I and the other mentors have had a positive impact on the world.

I recommend that all those Canadian creators who are between the ages of 20 and 25 and are interested in significantly cultivating their crafts, understanding the nuances of entrepreneurship in creative fields, and potentially establishing a career for themselves while becoming part of a supportive community apply to the FUTURES program during the summer of 2024.

In the meantime, I wish all of the FUTURES creators, my fellow Canon Canada ambassadors, the Canon Canada team, my clients, colleagues, family, friends, supporters, and fans a prosperous, enlightening, fulfilling, creative, healthy, and safe 2024.

Happy New Year! I look forward to sharing one of my most ambitious and far-reaching projects (among others) within the next two weeks at the start of 2024!

The Canon FUTURES Program Graduation 2023

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