Leon’s Hello Yellow Magazine “Couch Series” Shoot

2019 has been an incredibly exciting year for The Couch Series. The series gained a lot of momentum online after being featured on BlogTO and Toronto Life. This quickly snowballed into countless interviews including on-air appearances on CBC radio and Breakfast Television and print features on the cover of the Toronto Star and in Toronto Life’s July issue.

All this positive attention about a personal series that is so special to me brought a great sense of pride and validation. I appreciated the positive feedback immensely and I enjoyed all the buzz the series was generating while it lasted. But, I began to hope for something more — I hoped to land commissioned work from a reputable company.

My dream became reality when I was sought out by Leon’s to shoot a couch photo for their Hello Yellow Magazine and Flyers. I was hired to capture a couple in a faux living room set up to coincide with the commercial campaign released over the summer.

The only element that was deliberately chosen by Leon’s for the shoot was the couch. The rest of the propping was pulled straight from the sales floor by myself and the prop stylists.

The images captured feature Margo, Todd and Leon (the aptly named hairless cat). These proud home owners have high society aspirations while living on a budget. They love the chance to have friends over and show off their trendy purchases.

In this case, a couch from a “cute little boutique called Leon’s.” And then we have Leon, the Sphinx (hairless) cat. This angry looking cat is Margo and Todd’s prized possession and steals the show as she usually does.

It was a challenging and exhausting day building the set from scratch, lighting and shooting the wonderfully gifted and funny actors. But, in the end, it all came together beautifully and it was so fun to shoot!

I couldn’t have done it without the hard working and creative crew I worked with that day. Thank you Leon’s for the opportunity and giving me the freedom to do my thing!