Project T-Dot At Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport On Citytv's Breakfast Television

Ajani Charles For Project T-Dot At Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport On Citytv's Breakfast Television

When I first began learning about the art and science of photography and how to shoot and develop film using SLR cameras, first through the Toronto School of Art as a twelve-year-old among adults and soon after as a teenage visual arts major through the Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig Secondary School, I was satisfied with sharing my work with my classmates, a handful of close friends, and my parents. I was satisfied with an audience of less than fifty people.

Now, decades later, despite my relatively small social media following, my work has been seen by millions of people in Canada and around the world. The fact that I was on Citytv’s Breakfast Television (also known as BT) in Toronto for the second time within two years on Thursday, February 15, 2024, is not an opportunity I took or will take for granted.

According to Numeris (formerly known as BBM Canada), 77,091 watched me live on Breakfast Television this past February.

The twelve-year-old version of me that I am now far removed from in numerous ways would be amazed, and some of the things that I do daily are beyond the comprehension of many past versions of me.

That said, my second appearance on Breakfast Television had little to do with me or my accomplishments as an individual and far more to do with my new art exhibit, Project T-Dot, at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and my documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history.

With the help of many supportive and innovative organizations, like Nieuport Aviation, PortsToronto, Sony Music Entertainment Canada, and the City of Toronto, my current art exhibit is based on a complicated, long-term personal project highlighting some of the most inspiring people and organizations I have had the honour of documenting since December 2006 and a Toronto-based subculture that most Torontonians and most people worldwide do not understand in much detail.

Photographer, Director, Producer, Mental Health Advocate, Canon Canada Ambassador: Ajani Charles, Publicist, Entrepreneur: Randy Phipps, Producer: Shannon Loftus, Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Brice Zhao

From my perspective, Drake’s current, highly publicized, multivariate rap battle against Kendrick Lamar, Metro Boomin, and many others reveals how little most people outside of the Greater Toronto Area, especially outside of Canada, know about Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history. Project T-Dot as a whole aims to change that among its other mandates.

Based on the American social media commentary on the previously mentioned rap battle I have seen online, the average American hip-hop music fan generally knows very little about hip-hop outside of America or the cultural diversity of Toronto.

Leading up to the morning of February 15th, my publicist Randy Phipps informed me that Breakfast Television did not want to have a live conversation with me at my new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, much like they did for my first solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Toronto’s City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square.

Instead, they wanted to discuss the exhibit and Project T-Dot as a whole at the Citytv studios in the core of downtown Toronto, and they wanted me to bring some framed prints that were identical to some of the prints now featured in the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport’s terminal atrium.

Thankfully, Canon Canada is one of my new exhibit’s sponsors. Furthermore, as a Canon Canada ambassador, I have access to Canon Canada's Frame Lab, which offers a selection of high-quality, timeless frames handcrafted in Italy from the finest natural woods without the use of fillers or composite.

In part, through the incredible output of Canon’s advanced large-format printers, Frame Lab produced and delivered the requested prints a few days before I was live on-air.

Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Brice Zhao

More specifically, Canon Canada sent me beautiful, minimalistic framed prints of Honey Jam’s founder, Ebonnie Rowe, my friend, colleague, and mentor Julien Christian Lutz, who is professionally known as Director X, acclaimed journalist and Breakfast Television team member Devo Brown, and Toronto’s most famous rapper Drake.

After hand-delivering the framed prints to Citytv myself, the afternoon before my interview was scheduled, my preparation included instructing my student, Brice Zhao, through the Canon FUTURES program on the behind-the-scenes photographs I needed him to shoot before, during, and after the interview while reviewing essential talking points that could potentially arise.

Given his faith in my abilities as a public speaker who is familiar with the subject matter of my new exhibit, Randy gave me very few instructions, and I was excited to be on national television again.

On February 15th, I woke up at approximately 4:30 AM EST before a relatively short walk to Citytv’s studios.

As usual, and as I do before my speaking engagements and media appearances, I went through a routine consisting of, among other things, different forms of meditation, visualizations, and affirmations, as well as a series of physiotherapy exercises and hatha yoga postures.

I packed up some of my camera gear to document the behind-the-scenes of my media appearance, specifically for this article, and to supplement Brice’s footage, which I knew would be excellent. I could not let him have all the fun as far as shooting was concerned.

Producer: Shannon Loftus, Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

The walk to Citytv was incredibly peaceful and serene. The downtown core of Toronto usually seems empty before 8:00 AM or so. My nervous system could not have been calmer, as I spent about 45 minutes in stillness and solitude between the different forms of meditation I engaged in.

My resting heart rate was likely much lower than usual.

Before most of my speaking engagements became solo engagements, I would speak on various panels on behalf of my clients. I recall being the only speaker in the green room who was not visibly nervous before one such panel alongside a few other artists in 2019.

As I observed my fellow speakers' nervous body language, I realized that meditation was one of a few variables behind my calmness.

They were engaged in seemingly endless mental feedback loops based on how the audience might perceive them unfavourably. Maybe they felt like imposters and assumed that it was only a matter of time before our client or the audience found out.

What they were experiencing seems to be a common affliction amongst artists, entrepreneurs, executives, and athletes (among others), often called “imposter syndrome.”

Publicist, Entrepreneur: Randy Phipps, Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Regular meditation is a solution to this affliction. It allows one to observe thoughts and bodily sensations like a third-party observer as if one’s thoughts are clouds passing in the sky. It also leads to improved concentration.

Among many other relevant studies, a 2007 study entitled Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation, researchers Tang, Ma, Wang, Fan, Feng, Lu, and Posner from various institutions, including the University of Oregon and the University of California, investigated the effects of short-term meditation training on attention and self-regulation using neuroimaging techniques, and found that meditation was beneficial to cultivating many of the qualities most needed for effective public speaking.

When I arrived at Breakfast Television, after checking in with security, I was greeted by producer Shannon Loftus, who was very friendly and guided me to the green room, where my publicist, Randy, was waiting.

Brice was late due to traffic, but once he arrived, I was more at ease than before, surrounded by a small but mighty support system.

Somehow, Shannon realized I knew Matisse of the electronic musical trio Keys N Krates, a talented musician and one of my first clients, soon after I decided to become a professional photographer.

Journalist: Meredith Shaw, Photographer, Director, Producer, Mental Health Advocate, Canon Canada Ambassador: Ajani Charles, Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Brice Zhao

She also knew Bryan Brock, a multitalented designer, photographer, and entrepreneur who once lived with Matisse and was one of my first professional collaborators (thanks to Matisse). All three of them grew up together in London, Ontario. What a small world.

After meditating again for approximately five minutes in the green room, I was brought into the area where my segment would be shot. I sat beside Meredith Shaw, the host who would conduct my interview, and I reminded Brice to stay behind the Citytv cameras shooting me.

I initially thought that Devo Brown would be interviewing me, as he is featured in my new exhibit and is consequently a part of Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history. Still, he was preoccupied with another news story in another part of Citytv’s studios, one floor above us.

Meredith commented on how calm I seemed. After briefly discussing my daily meditation practice, she mentioned that she has heard great things about it. I encouraged her to start slowly and aim low, as a minute of meditation daily is much better than no meditation.

We had a great conversation on camera soon after, which felt like an extension of the conversation we were having off-camera. I felt like I was in her living room or kitchen.

From my perspective, the experience went by quickly, and I was pleased with the outcome, although, in retrospect, I could have smiled more.

Photographer, Director, Producer, Mental Health Advocate, Canon Canada Ambassador: Ajani Charles, Journalist: Devo Brown, Location: Citytv, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Brice Zhao

Sometimes, I can take myself and my work far too seriously; ironically, it has been that way since childhood, and over-seriousness can sometimes be maladaptive.

As an adult, being hyper-cognizant of the impermanence of life as I know it has often intensified my over-seriousness and my conviction to reach my many goals with a sense of urgency. We are all on borrowed time, and I have much work to do, which can make me overly focused and very direct in my communications.

Once my Breakfast Television segment concluded, Devo Brown came down to meet us, and I signed the framed print featuring a photograph of him. I presented it to him as a gift for his contributions to Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, history, and Canadian media.

Like Drake, Snoop Dogg, Clipse, Nas, and others, he is now part of a small group worldwide that owns framed prints of my work.

For those interested in acquiring custom framed prints of their choosing through Canon Canada’s Frame Lab, the code AJANI40 can be used at checkout for an exclusive 40% discount until Tuesday, December 31, 2024.

In the meantime, my new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is the largest art exhibit ever to be installed at the airport. It is fully accessible and bilingual (with French and English text). Until early 2025, it is free to the general public, including millions of travellers, without purchasing an airline ticket or paying an entrance fee. It is open daily between 5:00 AM EST and 11:59 PM EST in the airport terminal’s atrium.

In addition to the exhibit’s 60 large-scale black and white vinyl prints) featuring over 80 members of Toronto’s hip-hop community and many related organizations, its 55-inch touchscreen includes detailed profiles of all parties featured in print through a first-of-its-kind digital user interface.

Shortly, new profiles will be added to the touchscreen’s digital user interface, expanding on the world’s first and most comprehensive public database of a major city’s hip-hop scene.

I look forward to sharing more about my new exhibit in the coming weeks and months.

I am grateful for everyone involved and for everyone who has helped me bring Project T-Dot to fruition thus far. As far as I am concerned, this is only the beginning, and there is far more of Project T-Dot to come.

References

1. Tang, Y.-Y., Ma, Y., Wang, J., Fan, Y., Feng, S., Lu, Q., Yu, Q., Sui, D., Rothbart, M. K., Fan, M., & Posner, M. I. (2007). Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(43), 17152–17156. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707678104.