Sam Keravica's 'The Cost of Living' documents Toronto's financial district

Sam Keravica, a Toronto-based photographer, has spent over six years working on his ongoing photographic project 'The Cost of Living,' which captures the city's financial district. The project began during his university years with what he calls 'naive optimism' and has evolved into a complex exploration of personal and societal issues, including economic insecurity, privilege, and the universal negotiation of survival and belonging. Keravica's images depict the district's diverse inhabitants—brokers, homeless individuals, tourists, construction workers, taxi drivers, couriers, commuters, and immigrants—without hierarchy. The post-COVID housing crisis and rising cost of living in Canada are conveyed not as explicit denouncement but as atmosphere, through light reflecting on glass and concrete, shadows cast by skyscrapers, and bodies in transit. The project poses an ethical question: how much are we willing to sacrifice for an unpromised future? Keravica addresses this personally, discussing the precariousness of artistic life, the weight of migrant sacrifices, and the ambiguity of 'wealth,' while opening it to collective meaning. 'The Cost of Living' remains a work in progress, as Toronto continues to change and Keravica continues to return with his camera as a tool for inquiry.