Hey there!

My name is Semi. Ripple Rules is my pseudonym. That’s me in the photos!

I’ve been working as a photographer and graphic designer since 2006 but I’ve been expressing myself creatively, including with photography, since childhood.

I think my first ever payout for my creative skills were from a handful of silk scarfs that I painted in grade 5 and sold to my grandmas friends but my first ever real graphic design job was designing t-shirts for a company in Montréal while I was still in university there. My first ever photo gig was a cheesy Christmas-themed family portrait session. I’ve since worked with many local small business and large scale, high end, international clients and brands, both independently and as a team through marketing agencies, to create many websites, web stores, marketing campaigns, finely curated social media feeds, magazines, and billboards.

Some of my work has won awards and has been featured on international medias but I don’t really keep track of that kind of stuff. I will, however, always remember that Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large for Vogue Japan, has a gif of me riding dolphins (that I made lol) up on her blog (it’s a long story).

I studied film photography and communication graphic design at NSCAD University in Halifax. I also studied storytelling and psychology at Concordia University of Montréal and the University of Alberta, respectively. The critiques and lessons I recieved at these institutions have been instrumental in expanding my professional creative skills and awareness. However, learning is like second nature to me because I was always encouraged to express myself creatively in many different ways as a kid and I think this early freedom of expression, of trying new methods and approaches, allows me to more easily learn with enjoyment and thus in a more meaningful way, no matter where my experience comes from and so I have learned a lot from working with many people who are passionate about their work, lives, and business’.

The work that I have posted on my portfolio is a mixture of some personal but mostly client centered work.