From The Driver's side

I stepped into the cab driver’s office, and sunk deeply into the back seat. Normally fastidious about buckling up my seatbelt in any vehicle, I never seem to be in a taxi—somewhere in my youth, which has also seemingly stuck in my adult life, I had established that taxi drivers were exempt from accidents and furthermore, the law, possessing an aura of vehicle untouchability. Today, however, the rarely questioned seatbelt was definitely not the issue, as I would be actively filming the driver from my backseat position, while Tash (Natasha Naveau) recorded his responses to my questions about his life. It was an agreed upon exchange—a 30 minute conversation intended to bring the voice of our taxi driver to the
forefront. Who are these individuals that we hand our lives to for the few minutes of a journey? I meet his eyes briefly in the rearview mirror as the conversation begins.

(This was a mobile phone project coordinated by Dr. Gerda Cammaer in conjunction with
Toronto’s Harbour Front Centre, Beck’s Taxi and Canada’s 150th birthday).