A Decade in Shanghai: How a Canadian Photographer Found His Home

Growing up in a 4,000-person town in the Canadian Rockies, Kennedy spent his early years craving an escape from the familiar. After stints in Thailand and London, he landed in Shanghai, initially navigating the city through a lens of skepticism shaped by international headlines. For his first five years, he worked in marketing and hospitality, but the pull of creative independence eventually proved too strong to ignore.

In 2019, Kennedy launched his own photography business. The early days were lean; he earned less than 20,000 RMB a month, surviving on a diet of networking and unpaid projects to build a robust portfolio. That gamble paid off. His work shifted toward food documentary, a passion rooted in his mother’s background as a dietitian. He recently co-created the "SaintCavish" YouTube series with writer Christopher St. Cavish, which earned a James Beard Award nomination and drew 15 million views for its first season.

Today, Kennedy manages the volatile reality of self-employment, trading the stability of office life for the autonomy of his own schedule. While he still visits Canada, the professional and personal roots he has planted in Shanghai have redefined his concept of home. The city is no longer a temporary destination but a landscape of creative community that feels entirely his own.