Ajani Charles is a Toronto-based professional photographer, director, producer, mental health advocate, and Canon Canada ambassador with a background in fine arts who specializes in creating impactful stories about the human condition, self-actualization, and mental health.
PROJECT T-DOT
AT
BILLY BISHOP TORONTO CITY AIRPORT
A year-long art exhibit that is part of Ajani Charles’ documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history.
Photography
Photography Projects
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip-hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992.
Project T-Dot is a documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture and community, which Ajani Charles began capturing in December of 2006, primarily through black and white photography, and is still in production.
This is a series of photographs summarizing Ajani Charles’ time spent in Shanghai, China, during the winter of 2012.
This is a series of photographs summarizing Ajani Charles’ time spent with a group of camel trainers in Qatar’s Zekreet desert.
Ajani Charles originally shot the images herein for an article that summarizes his thoughts on the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic while living in the downtown core of Toronto.
CONTINUUM is a meditative generated animation and installation by Toronto's own Krista Kim, a contemporary artist and founder of the Techism movement since 2014, promoting the confluence of art and technology, and technological innovation as a medium to further the development of digital humanism, in collaboration with recording artist Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins and many others.
Mental Health Projects
As of 2019, Ajani Charles has been a journalist for Thrive Global, a behaviour change technology and media organization to support individuals struggling with stress and burnout.
Operation Prefrontal Cortex was co-founded by renowned filmmaker Julien Christian Lutz, professionally known as Director X, and his longtime friend Danell Adams after Lutz’s experience as a victim of public gun violence in Toronto, and it is a program harnessing the power of mindfulness and meditation to help reduce the incidents of gun violence, mass violence, and police violence in Toronto.
Project Healthy Minds is a new millennial/Gen Z-driven non-profit startup focused on tackling one of the defining issues of the 21st century: the growing mental health crisis.
Ajani Charles has worked with Calm as an ambassador and producer, writing articles on behalf of the company, promoting the many mental health benefits of Calm’s platform to his audience, producing photographs for the company and being featured in the platform’s Calm Stories series.
Mindfulness And Other Crucial Skills I Never Learned In High School is a workshop by Ajani Charles, initially designed for high school students throughout the Toronto District School Board.
Ajani Charles has worked as a mentor through CAMH: The Centre For Addiction And Mental Health, Canada’s largest mental health institution, since 2017.
In 2021, Ajani Charles launched a series of meditation playlists via Spotify to provide his audience with easily-accessible audio for mindfulness meditations.
Mindfulness Consulting
Ajani’s work as a mindfulness consultant empowers his clients to transcend their fears, insecurities, and system inefficiencies in service of their goals.
Design
Sama is a Sanskrit word that describes the quality of calmness and tranquillity of the mind, which is highly valued in the Vedas and yogic philosophy. It is an experience of inner peace and equanimity, as described by ancient yogis. To experience sama, the mind must be under control.
Speaking
Ajani Charles was commissioned to discuss the intersections of personal finance, mental health, mindfulness, and creativity with the CEO of Conscious Economics, Rosalind Rhiannon, as part of the organization’s Mindfulness & Money program.
Through Canon Canada, Ajani Charles was commissioned to facilitate three workshops on mental health and introspection on behalf of Canon U.S.A.’s Get Up & Go With Canon …
Artscape is a not-for-profit urban development organization that makes space for creativity and transforms communities.
In partnership with the Daniels Corporation, Artscape Daniels Launchpad is a central creative hub in Toronto.
The World Affairs Conference (WAC) is North America’s largest and Canada’s oldest annual student-run current events conference that provides high-quality discussion opportunities for thousands of inspired, curious, and globally-minded high school students worldwide.
Partnerships
Ajani Charles has been shooting exclusively with Canon products, beginning with Canon SLR cameras and lenses, since the age of twelve, when he began learning the art and technologies of photography through the Toronto School of Art. His formal photography education continued through the Claude Watson Arts program at fourteen.
Press
Blog
On Monday, September 23, 2024, during the afternoon, I had the honour of facilitating a personalized tour of my new solo Project T-Dot Art Exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport for Toronto’s 66th Mayor, Olivia Chow.
Since the first week of August 2024, a 15-second cut of the short film I directed and produced on my new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport has frequently been streaming, sometimes every minute, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, at hundreds of locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area, including but not limited to all Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) stations, and most of the highrise elevators in the Greater Toronto Area, thanks to a recent partnership I formed with the good people at PATTISON Outdoor Advertising.
When I began my photography journey at eleven with a Canon ELPH point-and-shoot camera, I had no idea what a Canon Canada ambassador was or that Canon had a Canadian division.
I work incredibly hard; my parents, therapist, mentors, colleagues, friends, executives working for my clients, and other facets of my support system often implore me to take far more breaks.
My new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, based on my 18-year-old documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history, has been open to the general public for approximately four months in the airport terminal’s atrium. I am honoured to share a short film on the exhibit that many skilled people contributed to.
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 once highly competitive 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.
On Wednesday, January 24, 2024, I woke up at approximately 6:00 AM EST to prepare for the media event on behalf of my new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which showcases my 18-year-old documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history.
I am honoured and grateful to announce that Nieuport Aviation presents my second solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Proudly sponsored by Sony Music Entertainment Canada and part of the CONTACT Photography Festival’s 2024 programming, it is located past the airport’s underground tunnel, specifically in its terminal atrium.
One of the most fulfilling aspects of my career, especially in recent years, has been contributing to the Canon FUTURES program as a mentor.
On Thursday, September 28, 2023, I attended the Art Gallery of Ontario's (AGO) annual fundraiser, Art Bash!, for the first time.
Last week, beginning on Saturday, November 18, 2023, I attended ComplexCon for the first time in Long Beach, California, specifically at the Long Beach Convention Centre.
On Wednesday, February 28, 2024, beginning at 5:30 PM EST, a private celebration of my new solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport took place in the airport terminal’s atrium, which was remarkable considering that flights were arriving and departing at the airport during the event.