Our May issue cover photographer explains why he keeps Rob Ford’s business card in his wallet

Our May issue cover photographer explains why he keeps Rob Ford’s business card in his wallet

Wondering what it’s like to get right up in Rob Ford’s face? Photographer John Cullen went to the mayor’s headquarters to shoot the cover of Toronto Life’s May issue, and dished on the experience on his blog:

In the reception area of the mayor’s office there is a big wall dedicated to newspaper editorial cartoons featuring Rob and Doug Ford. The ones from the tabloids are reverential while the ones from the left-leaning papers poke fun at his weight and his policies. Good, I thought, the mayor has a sense of humour.

Cullen also reported that the mayor seemed relaxed, despite all the equipment for the photo shoot littering his waiting room:

We talked Etobicoke living and swapped business cards (sans the Brett Easton Ellis undertones), and I have kept that card in my wallet for the last few months. Not as a souvenir, but because Rob Ford is the kind of mayor you could call up any day of the week and get some things sorted out in your neighbourhood. Potholes, garbage collection times, dangerous overhanging tree branches. I can see why he got elected. Populism one-on-one is a pretty remarkable thing.

Too bad it’s well-nigh impossible for Ford to have that kind of one-on-one time with each of Toronto’s 2.6 million residents (not that he’s not trying). [johncullen.posterous.com]