The Toronto Portraits - Hannah Krapivinsky

Really love her smile! She seems like a cartoon character that sings! Her concert should be exciting...

That's a really good E.S.A. "promotion", too! Heh heh :o)

I love this feature for all the wrong reasons. The photos are terrible, the people profiled (who all seem very nice, nothing against them) just seem to know someone at BlogTO since most of them haven't done anything really note-able or that interesting. This week for example, this girl is in an indie rock band that I have never heard of. I am friends with 3-4 people that are in bands no one else has heard of. Would I think it's a good idea to profile them on BlogTO? No. I can go to MySpace if I want to read about random nobodies. I love how she talks about seeing a Toronto band that people have heard of play. When one of the most interesting things someone has to talk about is how good a band they saw play was chances are you should be talking to people in THAT band.

How is this "photographing them in a different Toronto neighborhood"? Which neighborhood is this and why are we there?

I really hope this Robin guy is doing this for free because this feature pretty sad. At the same time I am prone to a Schadenfreude now and then so keep them coming!

Acer, you remind me of this hotshot art director of one of this city's major news publications that came to guest critique one of my design classes. He introduced himself with the front pages of the three big newspapers of the day and explained that his was the best. This is because the other two covered the same local Toronto story (also with the same photo of two women on them), while his had some archived photos of some US presidents. He used this example as a way of selling his newspaper. "Who are these women?" he asked us holding up the two papers, "No one knows, therefore no one's going to read this." Or something along those lines. He picked up his paper with Reagan or someone on it and said, "This is what people want."
Acer, I believe you and this art director share something in common and I don't think I have to elaborate. So instead of complaining about the worthiness of this perfectly charming and unpretentious blog entry, might I suggest reading Perez Hilton or other celebrity blogs where you might recognize a few faces.
Seriously, why all the hate on these portrait posts?

Look at the links I put on there for 'Foxfire'; blogTO has covered and profiled this band a number of times in the past, and as recently as April 23rd, 2008:

http://www.blogto.com/music/2008/04/call_response_foxfire/

Any complaints that her band isn't relevant or well known are unfounded.

As a side note, as long as you enjoy the column, that's all I care about. There are no wrong reasons.

To all the people who keep crying out, "Who the hell are these people? Why do they deserve to be profiled? I have no idea who they are!", have you ever considered that you might be ignorant?

You're probably not working very hard to expose yourself to things in general, especially not arts and culture in Toronto (as Toronto Portraits has so far leaned towards those fields). You are lazy. If you read some weeklies, read some dailies, expose yourself to some information that is not mainstream, just put in a little effort to stay abreast on things... then you'd have a clue as to who the people are on Toronto Portraits. Even a six-degrees kind of clue. And if you still don't know who they are, then shouldn't you be ecstatic that you've learned about someone new?

Case in point: When I moved here from Montreal years ago I picked up an issue of NOW. On the cover was some dude with a sweet 'stache flexing his arm with a fake tattoo that said "Olivia". The headline was "You don't know Jack". I thought, "Of course I don't know Jack! Who the hell is this dude with the sweet 'stache? Why should I care about him? Why does he deserve to be on the cover?" And instead of pissing out sour grape juice, I read the article. I read more material on him from other sources. I did my research. I did not whine or doubt or cry foul. I would learn that the man is Jack Layton. I'd never heard of him because he was making the transition from local politics to federal, and I was new to Toronto.

Now we all know Jack. And if you don't, you are ignorant.

My point? You are lazy and even Bill O'Reilly would tell you to shut up.

the adage that you sh*t on others so you can feel good about yourself sums up EVERY naysayer posting negative comments on this blog. they are all insecure and jealous

Rosedale Heights is where I go to school. I remember Hannah when she went here, great singer, awesome attitude. Whether she is 'worth' being featured, really doesn't matter to me. As far as the Mr. Hayes she mentioned, he has embarked on a well-deserved retirement. This year was no exception as far as the music trip was concerned. The students managed to pull of one of the most successful trips/cds in years(even though doubts were high). Of course under the direction of the new guy Justin Deneau.

As far as the ESA/Rosedale rivalry goes... I believe ESA is great for churning out amazing, professional players. While Rosedale provides amazing experiences, not only to the incredibly talented artists, but to the ones who genuinely love music (or any other art form) without necessarily being among the elite.

I am incredibly glad to see my school getting attention with this article, pass by Bloor St. east one day around the lunch hour and you can already tell how unique and amazing the students of Rosedale are.

you! Carson!
Please don't compare the national NDP candidate with some person who is cool because she sings in a band! I have nothing against Hannah but if you "came here from Montreal" and didn't know who Jack Layton was... what? Really? I love people. I live for people. But, come on... seriously? Jack Layton? Really?? It took Now magazine to introduce you to Jack Layton?

How about young, dynamic Torontonians outside the performing arts/entertainment industries, as every one has been so far? Think of the scientists, they need press too!

This is definitely the best of the amateurish and uninteresting series so far, but that's mainly because she's cute as he'll, even with the 70's Valerie Bertinelli hipster haircut. And she's smiling. And once again why even mention that these are in different neighbourhoods if you find the most generic and unimaginative background? The answer last time was that the glow on the wet street was from the Royal cinema! Wow.

The other thing repeatedly suggested was to send in ideas of people if we found blogTO's to be crap, but its not the reader's responsibility. It's blogTO's responsibility not to post boring content. Tall order, but these people are only interesting to about 10 people and it's not because the rest of us are out of touch. It's that they haven't done anything fascinating enough for us to invest time reading, and that's too bad because there are so many people this would work better with, and with a more talented photographer. Stick a fork in this feature, it's embarrassing to blogTO and especially the nice people in the photos.

I do like the first shot however, although it could have done better without the cheap Photoshop color sat/desat effect.

Hey guy,yes! dude!!, you totally proved my point. My argument was about educating oneself to dispell ignorance. We're on the same page. It doesn't matter how one gets enlightened, be it NOW or Globe and Mail or zines, as long as one digs oneself out of ignorance. By the way, I think we vote the same, so pax.

I think the people featured are completely deserving of being profiled. Whether or not what they do is interesting is completely subjective and I think readers should stop criticizing on that point. Why don't you write to NOW and complain about who they profile on their My Style? Same thing! You have to realize that someone gets profiled every week and that's a hell of a lot of people if you patiently wait and cool your vigour.

One thing you can't deny is that the people profiled are actively contributing to Toronto. They are doing things that are progressive and inclusive, meaning, you can go to their shows and events and expose yourself to new experiences. They aren't just eccentric characters like Zanta or the prison jumpsuit guy who, although "interesting" people who liven Toronto's landscape, don't really fall into this blog's objective of featuring young and dynamic people. I mention them because of a comment weeks ago that Toronto Portraits should feature people who are more "interesting".

To steve, who says that the profiled people "haven't done anything fascinating", what constitutes fascinating to you? Being Zanta? Winning the Nobel Prize? Busting out of Guantanamo Bay? If you want sensationalism, there are more than enough rags for that at the checkout counter. If you want celebrities or people who are overexposed, again, checkout counter. But if you want "young and dynamic" Torontonians who are contributing as working artists or who work hard so that they can make art (or other fields eventually, I hope), then Toronto Portraits is on point. I really don't think Toronto Portraits is intended for you to read, steve.

I find them all fascinating and am thankful that they are creating stuff for Torontonians. They are making shows, creating dialogue, making us dance, making us think, and yes, they're still young enough now that I'm excited to see what else they offer in the years to come.

steve, want to start naming names of people you want to see featured? who would be a better choice? who is fascinating? who is interesting to more then 10 people? back your argument, dude. name some worthy people! make your argument credible or else you are a grump with empty complaints!

seems like it's pretty damn easy to be a critic these days. useless people, these are. always bringing the party down.

it's a blog, people. a big one, but still a blog. it's fun, it's easy, you can easily move on to the next one if you don't like it.

or create one yourself if you're so damn good at everything and all knowing.

lovely profile.

Jeez. And I thought I was a hater. Steve, it's nice to know that even when during a hate-filled rant you can give a compliment, like how cute the featured subject is, you can still do it in a backhanded way by criticizing her hairstyle. You're one in a million.

Norman Wong's photos of Hannah out class these ones by leaps and bounds.

The images here are more like snapshots that portraiture.

Prettiest girl in Toronto, but more importantly best singer in the city.

Haters are idiots, haah! Let's sit faceless behind a computer and put people down. I'd like to see you have some balls in real life, loser. OR, you could go see her perform and then understand what the fuss is about.

i love the idea of anyone criticizing hannah's enthusiasm and undeniable involvement in toronto life from their computer, probably indoors surfing the internet alone.

Criticism is good. I like section, the comments and counter comments.

Reading about people is fascinating. Especially in a city where one doesn't know our next door neighbour, it's good to read about faces whom you don't see in newspapers. Also, about these schools that I had never known of.

Blogto is an interesting one. I can muse over various taxonomic labels used to define people. Especially in the comments - Love how people jump up and try to associate the person to a group of words/class/label depending on what they wear or do. I don't hear much of it among my friends so it's entertaining.

Cheesy pictures are fine. I can live with that. Te he.

Suggestions for blogto/robin:

I see that many of the commentators do not get a chance to add a blurb about themselves while commenting. I'd like to know little tit-bits about them. May be another form element under post-a-comment called 'Who are you.' It would interesting to read how what bunch of words they use to define their own selves.

Cheers to a lazy saturday afternoon!

Robin:
Look at the links I put on there for 'Foxfire'; blogTO has covered and profiled this band a number of times in the past, and as recently as April 23rd, 2008:

http://www.blogto.com/music/2008/04/call_response_foxfire/

Any complaints that her band isn't relevant or well known are unfounded.

- If you read my post I said she was probably profiled since she was friends with someone at BlogTO. There ya go. A quick google search finds only one article on Foxfire, from BlogTO. They might be great, I don't know. But don't pretend they are the next big thing because you happen to be chummy with them. There are hundreds of great bands out there and you choose to profile someone that has already been written about in this Blog. Must have been hard work to find "interesting" "dynamic" people to profile. Just check BlogTO's address book.

About commenting on the Blog, that's what the comment section is for. You might disagree with me, that's great. I don't "hate" the people profiled or Robin (but I do think Robin is a bad photographer and is rather lazy and not too picky about who he profiles) but people in the comment thread sure do HATE any kind of criticism of ANYTHING. I don't have too many GOOD ideas of who to profile instead (I could just profile my friends like Robin) but I'M NOT TRYING TO DO A FEATURE CALLED THE "TORONTO PORTRAITS". Just because I'm not a cook doesn't mean I can't say I didn't enjoy a meal.

I linked to two posts that cover them. Here's the other:

http://www.blogto.com/music/2007/05/foxfire_forest_rocks_the_boat/

I hate it when people say "NO ONE KNOWS THAT BAND" just because they themselves haven't heard of them. Bands like Spiral Beach and Foxfire have been making names for themselves in and around Toronto, but it's impossible for EVERYONE to know about them.

I really enjoyed this article.

ESA!

Since I'm only interested in the pictures when it comes to this series I'll point out briefly why the pictures are bad. Maybe the guy who took them could learn something.

Picture 1: ugly and boring wall, ugly TV frame and the whole setup seems contrived and too obvious to work.

Picture 2: awkward colors. her dress does not match with the yellow tree leaves. the bottom right corner is distracting and should have never been included in the shot.

Picture 3: Big brown door! whats the subject in the picture, the door or the girl. green grass, brown door red stripped dress... I thought my sense of color was messed up.

I know you guys don't give a damn about feedback but I do care for independent media sources and I want them to do well.

@Zack

Please post a link to your portraiture portfolio. I'd love to critique it.

Jerrold:

If i were to post my portfolio then it would appear that all my criticism is for selfish reasons at the expense of a fellow photographer.

I will not post my portfolio but I do admit to being a photographer.

Perhpas blogto might consider a photo editor - a volunteer photo editer to filter some of the pictures that they post... The quality of pictures says a lot about a particular new/blog or any source which uses still images.

Anyway, from now on I won't criticize this section. I hope you guys improve your photo selection process.

Zack, I know who you are, I've seen your photography, and I have my opinion of it already. No need to show us anything, or offer any unsolicted advice.

You were kicked out of the forums on TPMG (Canada's largest photography club) back in December for using multiple accounts (zoraak, wali, waz1980) and being a incredibly insulting, pompous, shit-disturbing troll, and if you continue to do the same here, the same thing will happen.

wow, Jerrold, coming from the same guy who got pissed when someone from Torontoist revealed his alias that they were policing criticism and being intrusive. Is that why you also deleted Japhet's critical comment earlier? BlogTO should be taking the criticism to heart and improving the feature instead of invalidating it. It's a weak series and poorly executed and us readers are trying to help it not suck.

My suggestion would be to make it just a little profile feature with one snapshot (I agree with the person above that these are snapshots, not portraits) and can the pretentious TORONTO PORTRAITS name. The photography never gets better than mediocre and that would be much better to deemphasize it.

Also, for some band I'm supposed to care about, there isn't a link to the band's website in the article and their site doesnt even have any of their music on it anyway. See what I mean about these being useless? Plus the fact that you've already written 2 posts on them seems to underscore that you cant find better people to profile.

Robin has been taking these critical comments like a man and should be commended for doing that, but jerrold, you're the editor, so have some class and listen to your readers who are trying to help you make blogTO better.

Thank you Steve. This is what comments are for, FEEDBACK.

Some people like the feature, many don't. There are SOOO many talented photographers in Toronto (just look at the BlogTO flickr pool) why is Robin doing this? No offence Robin, but a great photographer you ain't and if you don't want your work criticized then don't put it on a popular blog. BlogTO is great for lots of things. I love the restaurant reviews, music and culture features (which is where a profile of this chick belongs, in the "music" only section). But amateurish segments like this really stand out. The photos of the food in the reviews look more professional than this.

@everyone
I can't believe how much derision comes from such an innocent series of portraits/profiles. It's truly bizarre that people are so affected by Robin?s contributions to the blogTO community that they feel the need to ride him and act as critics to both his photographic and editorial creativity, every week. It?s both surprising and disappointing.

@steve
This "zack/wali/zoraak/was1980" character is well known in the photography community. He trolls various photography forums under alias, intentionally hides his true self, insults people (including exceptionally good, professional photographers) to no end, gets banned, and comes back under new aliases. Being openly, benevolently critical (me on Torontoist) is one thing, but being an outright malicious, deceptive troll over and over again ("Zack") is another.

Regarding comment deletion: I didn't see or delete any comment by Japhet in this thread, so please don't make quick and false assumptions/accusations.

Regarding your suggestions:
The name "Toronto Portraits" is pretentious? How so? These aren't portraits, but are snapshots? How are these NOT portraits? I'd love to read your elaboration on this.

We can't find "better people" to profile? Robin is free to profile anyone he wants to profile. If he chooses to feature people unknown to you and me, that's all the better, IMO. But to call those he has profiled as unworthy or boring is really judgmental and insulting to both Robin and his subjects. If you're bored by these, stop clicking on them. If you know specific people who are (in your mind) "worthy" then suggest them (without expectation that Robin or anyone else would feel obliged to follow up on them).

"Trying to make blogTO better" shouldn't entail bashing our contributors work ever time they create content. Your comments are certainly not "making blogTO better" by any stretch. If you really wanted to make blogTO better, you'd contribute your own wriitng and photography, you'd email the editors your ideas and opinions, you'd offer constructive criticism to Robin personally, and you wouldn't side with malicious internet trolls.

@acer

You seem to be misunderstanding something fundamental about blogTO. We're NOT professionals. Most of our contributors, Robin included, have full time jobs/school outside of blogTO, and are people who are enthusiastic about our city and the people in it. The latter matters 100x more to me than the imperfections and shortcomings you're so adamant about pointing out.

Trust me, we love and embrace feedback. Sometimes we agree and we react accordingly, and other times we don't. Your opinions have been duly noted by Robin and the editorial staff. Last week. And the week before. And the week before that.

When your feedback doesn't result in change, does that give you good reason to return and give the same feedback over and again and again? At what point does giving the same feedback repeatedly become excessive/harassment/nagging/annoying?

well last time I looked there were plenty of ads on this site. That means you have to be making some money and paying your contributors something, right? I wouldn't go around on flickr or a photography forum and be as straight-up critical as I am of this feature because those communities are for sharing your creative work and maybe getting feedback on what others like or dislike about your work.

This is a for-profit website and I guess I just expect some degree of quality for a portrait feature given it's prominence as a regular weekly segment. Almost every picture in the flickr forum is far better than what Robin can do, and those photographers are just out there doing it for fun. How exactly did Robin get picked to do this?

Can we know? Are you (Jerrod) just buddies with him? I guess what bothers me so much is that there is so much visual creative talent in this city and who gets to do this segment? Some hack. And just to respond to what people keep coming back to:

Do I want to do it? no.
Do I know someone else who can do better? yes, look at any photographer in the flickr section on this site or as I said before, the guy who shoots the food for the reviews seems to know what he/she is doing. Get them to do it. As Jerrod pointed out most contributers have other jobs or are in school, well, most other contributers do a far better job than Robin.

acer, I don't feel the need to explain, defend, or justify blogTO's internal operations and editorial decisions to you just because you have a strong opposing opinion about this column. And I'm just about tired of this and unwilling to continue trying to reason with you.

I don't expect that every blog post will be given two thumbs up by every reader because we have an extremely diverse readership.

It's clear that you don't like this column and that others do like this column. I don't know what else to say. Move on? Enjoy what else is out there instead of being a negative influence on positive people?

hey, hey, it's Trey here. What I miss? Wow, I don't check in to Toronto Portraits for a day and look at all these messages. First of all, I'd just like to say that this is BY FAR the best portrait..er..by far! This girl is like a breath of fresh air. Although, I have to agree with the comment above and say that I'm probably saying that because the girl is as cute as a button and probably couldn't take a bad photograph if she tried. At the same time, as much as I enjoy reading the "hater" comments every week, I think my fellow cynics/anti-hipsters are way off base this time. This girl is interesting and could be like the Source's "Unsigned Hype" section: She could take off with a Fiest-like career tomorrow and we can all say: "Damn, and I first remember her as the first-ever smiling profile on Toronto Portraits." Chill out this week fellow haters. I'm sure there's plenty for next week.

Oh yeah, and I agree that the food photographer guy takes great food pictures. Makes me want to go eat whatever he shot right away. Thanks for making me gain 8 pounds, jerk!

Okay, I'm totally in support of Toronto Portraits because it is completely positive in intent and is exposing me to interesting, fascinating people that I wasn't aware of before. I also understand that in the comments section, people are free to create dialogue and offer constructive criticism (although unfortunately the criticism is often far from constructive and falls into malicious). But the beauty of all things democratic is that we can voice our opinions (ideally less maliciously and unfounded than certain posters here).

This is what I have to say, and I'll use acer's comment about "just because I'm not a cook doesn't mean I can't say I didn't enjoy a meal." I agree with him/her on that note, BUT...

If a cook keeps serving you food that you personally don't enjoy, why do you keep going to the same restaurant?

Only a stupid fool would keep subjecting himself to the same personal punishment. Or a masochist. In any case, the negative people who keep bashing this column week after week (I want to list you, but I won't. You know who you are. We know who you are)... You have some issues. If you're a stupid fool or a masochist, please don't burden us with your problems. We're not interested.

Your comments are continually destructive. Don't take the other well-adjusted, calm, secure readers along on your painful ride of personal issues (envy, insecurity, self-consciousness, doubt). You are making us all feel anxious when this column wasn't intended for anxiety.

Are you guys stakeholders in blogTO? What the hell does blogTO owe you? Why do you care about its choices? It's goddamn free to read. And you are free to check out other media. Please do. And don't keep bringing us down with you on this column.

The profiles are great, but could you find someone a little older next time? might give a little balance.

I actually quite these photos. They seem quite unpretentious and she just looks like a nice happy Gal.

Hannah is adorable. She was clearly a rising star even in the first years at Rosedale. Powerful voice, great personality.
Even if her band isn't relevant to you, she soon will be!

There is a cool feature in now magazine or eye weekly that profiles people's apartments and says how much rent they pay...can we make this a hybrid of that?

p.s. if not...I'm still a fan.

"At what point does giving the same feedback repeatedly become excessive/harassment/nagging/annoying?"

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

ESA is totally way better than Rosedale, give me a break.

If ESA were the Jets, and Rosedale the Sharks, Riff would totally shiv Bernardo, cause ESA doesn't mess around.

Royal York and Queensway for LIFE!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=exGJsv6ZNlo

Hold on, now I've gotten carried away with the west side story stuff, dammit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loWrI1FneSM&NR=1

Alright, the truth is out, now you all know that I'm some sort of photographer badboy in Toronto (which sounds silly but if thats what I'm called for standing up for good photography then so be it).

Robin Sharp, not only me but almost everyone now knows that you pretty much blow at taking pictures. So, please save us the embrassamnet and let someone else do this segemnt.

To Blogto admin: Just to show that I can walk the walk as well, anytime you need to do someone's photos for this segment, drop me a line and I'll do it for free.

Peace,

You'll never get anywhere talking to people like that.

I see, and you will surly go places when you can't take criticism let alone taking pictures.

I checked your website; you seem very young so maybe you're not mature enough yet to handle dealing with real adults and their opinions. The same applied to TPMG which is basically populated with really lonely and socially inept people using photography to go for "events".

Dude, I'm sure you must be shocked that how could someone be so harsh to your work, but if you have what it takes to out your pictures out there then also be man enough to take the criticism which comes with it. If you're a sensitive little momma's boy, then photography is not for you.

Any comments that land in here that don't contribute in a productive way, or are laced with undeserving, petty insult will be removed. Robin hasn't done anything to deserve your insults, Zack. All we ask is that you show a basic level of maturity and respect if you intend to participate in discussions here. Thanks.

Wow Zack, you're painfuly ironic.

Socially inept is right.

yeah Zack. get outta here. you make me and lots of others sick. Bye bye!

what a pest. Bye bye!

also Zack, youve pretty much set yourself up for the one last option: show us your portfolio. you talk about being man enough for criticism. time to show us yours. if you don't, you are a coward. give us your link! give us your link! give us your link!

since you volunteered your skill to blogTO, why not show us the goods now? we might love it.

Alright, I think I have made my point so I'm not going to post...

I make people sick?

That's funny. lol

Good night,

but you were going to volunteer your photos? you said so. Zack, we might love your work. by your criticism of other people's work, you seem astute enough to take superior photos. can we please see? you were gonna show us anyway. you wanted to replace robin for this column, remember? please show us your portfolio. prove us wrong. silence us. imagine the vindication you'll get.

hussein k:

I'm not your typical photographer, I work in B&W mostly and i photograph the ugly side of Toronto, not the glossy and shallow exterior with pretentious hipsters and tacky restaurants which is the main focus of this site.

I'm also not that nasty so if you're a photographer yourself, you can always meet me in Toronto and we can talk photography.

Just because someone doesn't like something doesn't make them a hater.

Also, the word 'dynamic' doesn't mean anything unless you are describing James Bond or Batman's utility belt or a 2008 Toyota Tercel. It is the most disposable, douchey, and over-used word I can think of. I poo on that word.

If this thread has done anything, it has convinced me to go see Foxfire play in June!

lol just ignore this guy, I've seen his work, he showed us some "live performance" work done at the Wintercity. Totally a troll, didn't even have the guts to expose his identity in person and didn't have the guts to confront you face to face.

As they say... all fart and no shit.