The Mighty Studio is a portrait and commercial photography studio in Toronto: family, branding, editorial and event work, with credits including People, Goop, House & Home and S Magazine. I am self-taught and came to it late, after an MBA and a career spent doing other things. I was raised with my grandfather's camera in my face. I loved the camera and hated the pictures, and for years I was sure real photography belonged to people with the training and permission I thought I'd missed. My mother-in-law Myra saw it before I did. She told me plainly, more than once, that I could do this. I didn't listen, and by the time I decided she was right, she was gone. So I named it for her. Myra was Mighty My, and everything here carries her name.

Then I stopped waiting to be picked. Four kids and a full life deep, with a husband who never once told me to be smaller about it, I found every door in this industry closed, so I opened them myself, and one by one everyone gave me their time. The Mighty Good Exhibit is my first: 105 black and white portraits of Toronto photographers, the people who spend whole careers making everyone else feel seen and almost never sit for a picture themselves. It goes live September 17 in support of The Remix Project, and for one night the whole community is in one room, celebrated together. I know what it is to need someone to see you first, and I know what it costs to hear it too late.

Since 2006, The Remix Project has helped young Toronto creatives turn raw talent into real careers. It exists to level the playing field for talented youth who face barriers pursuing work in arts and entertainment, through mentorship, education, equipment, studio access and industry connections. Students focus on personal and professional development, strengthening the creative community and becoming the next generation of industry leaders across photography, music, events and entertainment.

I found Remix through this series, and it lined up so closely with what I was already trying to do that the relationship went both ways. Jet Bailey is a current Remix student, one of the photographers in the series, and The Mighty Studio's mentee on this project, including work on A Mighty Zine. Every dollar from this exhibit goes to Remix.

That Good is a Toronto creative agency founded by Catriona Smart. The work is immersive brand storytelling across events, talent, content and digital programming, with arms including Good Taste for events and Good People for talent. Catriona also sits on the board of The Remix Project, so the two were tied together long before this exhibit existed.

I was introduced to That Good by a photographer I shot for this series. They gave us the space, generously and without hesitation, and then they stayed. They are partners on the night now, building it alongside my team and bringing expertise we would not otherwise have. Without that, there is no room, and without a room there is no wall.

Smokestack is a leading Canadian producer and presenter of limited-edition and art prints. They run professional analog and digital production studios with one-on-one support for artists, specialized mounting for conservation-grade presentation, and a commercial gallery dedicated to print-based projects made directly with the studios. They are devoted to the craft of printmaking and to a deeper understanding of what the medium can do.

Smokestack came to us the same way That Good did, through a photographer in this series. We worked closely with Jonathan, who printed all 105 portraits at 46 by 36 inches out of pure devotion to the cause. Every print on the wall that night came out of that studio.

Halpern Wine Enterprises is one of Ontario's oldest wine agencies, started more than 65 years ago by my grandfather and still run by the same family, which happens to be mine. My dad, Todd Halpern, joined in 1979. My brother Adam joined in 2017. The agency imports for over 175 wineries and distilleries worldwide and works a Toronto sales floor that includes five certified sommeliers.

My grandfather is also the reason any of this exists. His camera is the one that was pointed at me my whole childhood, and his cameras are the ones still sitting in my studio. He built the business that is pouring the wine, which is the kind of favour you can only really call in at family dinner.

All Things Film was founded in 2020 in London, Ontario, by Avan, as a one-person passion project built on a real love for film photography. It has since grown into a team of creatives who share the same commitment to the craft. Avan is also one of the 105 photographers in this series, and someone who believed in the cause and the concept from the start.

Henry's has been selling cameras in Canada since 1909, when Harry Himelstein opened a watch and jewellery shop on Yonge Street. The business moved into photography in 1959, became Henry's in 1974, and has stayed in the Stein family through every chapter since. It now runs about 20 stores across the country alongside its online and commercial business.

My dad bought me my first SLR at Henry's in the 2010s. I shot the first few months of Mighty on that camera until it quit on me mid shoot, which felt less like a failure than a graduation. I have since befriended the entire Church Street location. For a lot of Toronto photographers, this one included, Henry's is simply where the gear comes from.