This is Emilia. I had 5 seconds to take her photo before the streetlight changed.

This felt impossible and slightly dangerous, as I was in the middle of a busy downtown street. But for some reason, I had to do it.

Maybe it was because Emilia looked like art from a different era. Her bike and her dress with those glasses were perfect.

And Emilia’s answer to my question at the end surprised me. Every time I listen to her short put powerful answer, it feels like a punch to my stomach.

For some reason her answer feels very personal and difficult to hear. It immediately connects with my own 7 year old self.

Thank you Emilia for being so real.

Big love,

D

PS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Emilia and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

This is Parco. The moment he saw my camera, he seized the opportunity and asked if I could take his photo.

Since I started this project weeks ago, he’s the first person to jump out and ask me to take his photo first. I didn’t even have the chance to approach him.

Yes, it was startling. But it was also refreshing.

This dude has a smile that could light up any room, but he was convinced he “sucks at photos” (his words).

In fact, 98% of people I work with are convinced of this. This is based on having taken over 700,000 photos of humans.

Why do you think most people believe they are not photogenic?

I’m curious what you all think.

Big love,

D

PS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Parco and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

PPS: My summer promo ends next week—savings of over $1200. If you are interested check out the link in my bio.

This is Luis. He owns an award winning tattoo shop in Toronto called Puedmag Inkpire.

I ran into him seconds after getting out of my car.

Luis had a power and presence to his energy that immediately caught my attention. I felt a bit intimidated.

His incredible tattoos also caught my eye.

I am realizing through this project how much I love photographing humans and their tattoos.

People who have tattoos all over the bodies feel like walking art canvases to me.

Here’s a fun fact about Luis: before his career as a tattoo artist he worked on a cow farm and had several pet pigs.

How do I know this? I followed him on IG and watched a really cool reel where they ask the tattoo artists at his shop what they did before tattoos. Many of the answers in that IG reel surprised me.

And if I’m honest, it humanized tattoo artists in a deeper way for me. I was able to see myself in many of their answers and I realized that—despite looking very different on the surface—we actually have a lot in common.

Big love,

D

PS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Luis and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

PPS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer and fall. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

For many people, God is a bad word. I’m not sure why, but I imagine it’s connected to some sort of negative religious experience (e.g. from childhood).

We all have different definitions of God, which makes the word and concept even more challenging to understand as a society or group.

I have no interest in forcing my personal beliefs onto others, but for what it’s worth I love God. God plays an important role in my life and we are constantly in conversation together.

My experience of God is an energy that is kind, brilliant, hilarious (seriously God is so funny) and incredibly supportive.

Maybe I am totally imagining this God… but even if I am, so what? My life is so much richer with God in it.

My favourite thing about God is the sneakiness.

I believe all of us are God, or expressions of God. Therefore God loves to show up in my life disguised as other humans, animals, objects, etc.

God loves to play dress up and surprise us in the most wonderful ways.

And everyone is a channel for God.

I know it might sound impossible or silly or maybe both. But that’s okay; God is infinitely creative and I don’t waste time trying to “figure it out” to no end.

If you’ve made it this far, I would really like to know: if you experience God, what’s it like?

Big love,

D

PS: Thank you Mildred for taking the time out of your day to share some kindness and wisdom with a stranger.

PPS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Mildred and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

PPPS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer and fall. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

Sending a huge thank you to my dear friend Saskia for introducing me to this brilliant quote.

She literally mailed me a box full of quotes and other goodies from London, England. This quote hit home.

Poetry by Bryant McGill, voice by Darius Bashar.

Love,

D

Here’s the full quote…

“The storm is out there and every one of us must eventually face the storm. When the storm comes, pray that it will shake you to your roots and break you wide-open. Being broken open by the storm is your only hope. When you are broken open, you get to discover for the first time what is inside you. Some people never get to see what is inside them; what beauty, what strength, what truth and love. They were never broken open by the storm. So, don't run from your pain — run into your pain. Let life's storm shatter you.”

This is my friend Marcos Mendoza. He’s an artist, a music maker and an entrepreneur.

He’s also a deep thinker. And clearly stylish too.

He and I did a photoshoot a few weeks back to capture this chapter in his journey.

I was shocked at how much he’s grown and changed since our last shoot. But also glad to see how much he stayed the same.

Shoutout to every artist out there who just keeps showing up, unwilling to ever give up on their dreams.

Just like my friend Marcos.

PS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

Literally seconds after I photographed Isaac, I noticed Eileen sitting on a bench a few feet away. She was smoking a cigarette and looked very deep in thought. For a moment, I considered walking past because I didn’t want to bother her.

And to be honest, I feel much more shy approaching women.

I am aware that as a man who is a stranger, approaching a woman can be intimidating for them. So I make extra effort to act respectfully and leave lots of room for people to say no.

I believe there is a way to do this with respect that ensures all people—but particularly women—are honoured.

I do not want to “steal a photo” or force someone to be a part of this art project.

I’m sure there will be times I mess up, but I am committed to learning and growing as a human and an artist with each encounter.

But there’s another reason I feel shy. And that’s because it hits harder when a woman says no.

I think it’s because when I was in my 20s, there were many women I wanted to say hi to, but didn’t.

Instead of talking to women, I would play out the interaction in my mind and convince myself it would end in a shutdown. I didn’t want to face this imaginary rejection, so I mostly chickened out.

And I still hold this fear of rejection in my body.

It makes me wonder... How much are we holding on to that is weighing us down, that isn’t even based on reality? That’s based on our imagination playing out worst case scenarios?

My goal here is to reflect on this part of myself with love and compassion and see if there is something I am finally ready to let go of.

I want to continue to showcase women and share their stories through this project. And to do that I will need to continually find more empathy and courage.

Love,

D

PS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

PPS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Eileen and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

Someone once told me that keeping a sincere compliment to yourself is like buying someone a gift, wrapping it up, and never actually giving it to them.

A few years ago I decided to say nice things to people in the moments when I actually felt them.

This is hard, especially with people I don’t know that well. I have this fear that they will respond with something harsh like, “Thanks Captain Obvious. Did you think I didn’t know that?”

But 95% of the time when I give people compliments, the recipient is surprised. It’s as if they don’t see what the rest of us can see so clearly.

This shocks me every time, until I remember that there is something about the human condition that makes it hard for us to fully appreciate ourselves.

When I approached him for a surprise photoshoot, Isaac was on his way home from grocery shopping.

I don’t know about you guys, but I never look this good when I go grocery shopping. This dude had style and swagger.

When I found out he had never done a photoshoot before I couldn’t help but share with him that maybe he should explore modelling and photography. He was sincerely surprised by my compliment and when I showed him the photos at the end, he had a big smile on his face.

I wonder why it’s so hard to see in ourselves what others can see so effortlessly?

Love,

D

PS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

PPS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Isaac and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

When I was a kid I was scared of men with tattoos.

Tattoos were not nearly as popular as they are now, and most humans who had lots of tattoos looked tough … at least that’s what I told myself.

I noticed Ian immediately from the other side of the street; he had a swagger to him. I thought there was a good chance he would tell me to get lost. I was happy to be walking in the opposite direction.

Fast forward to an hour later. Without noticing I walked back to where I first saw Ian. Lo and behold, he was in the exact same spot smoking another cigarette.

Do or die time Darius.

I said hi.

He seemed totally unaffected by me. I politely asked if we could do a 1-minute photoshoot and he said “I don’t care. I’m smoking my cigarette.”

I had half a cigarette’s length to get my shots.

At some point I asked Ian if he would lean up against the wall for a photo. With zero hesitation and a smirk on his face Ian said, “No. That’s not something I would do.”

I have never in over 700,000 photos had someone say no to one of my posing suggestions. It felt radically honest and a part of me really enjoyed it.

No show. No performance. No shits given about me and my fancy camera.

This dude was just being himself. And there’s something really refreshing about that.

This is part 1 of this story. It gets even more interesting in part 2. Stay tuned.

D

PS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

PPS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Ian and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.

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Francis was a kind and handsome man. He was also very funny. He was cracking jokes throughout our shoot about being more famous than Jackie Chan. :)

This photoshoot was also a unique challenge, as Francis wanted to keep his mask on for all the photos. Half of his face was totally covered for every single photo.

I couldn’t help think to myself:

“Is it even possible to get a good portrait of someone when you can’t see their face?”

You tell me?

Can you feel this beautiful man’s energy in these photos?

Love,

D

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PS: If you are interested in working together I have a great promo for the summer. Send me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

PPS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Francis and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.