That is *awesome*.

the guy in the hat is raoul

he used to hang out at future's back in the day when it was a smoky boho hangout and guys would play chess

my friend (who knows a bit of chess) played him and said he wasn't that good -- bt played real aggressively

The world really needs more interesting characters like this.

~xlnt street photography~

I'm sure the attire is used to distract his opponent into making mistakes ;-)

So did you see anyone beat him? That's quite the getup for chess - he looks like he's having a great time. :)

Wonder twin powers activate, form of an eagle... form of an ice cube. Good shot Sam! There are some great characters on the streets of Toronto. I've never seen this guy but I used to always see Ben Kerr playing his guitar at young and bloor as I ate my lunch.

I'm gonna beat him. But...Is he still sitting there? how come he never gets tired !!!
However, the photo is amazing after all.

Holy cow, there are PEOPLE in this photo! Sam, with so many of the other photos on ths site, sometimes I think you live in an abandoned city. :-) Great shots.

I find street photography fascinating and often wish it was one of your chosen genres, Sam. It would be great to see more like these.

God, that's beautiful.

i love the "commander superstar" title on the black bag, hehe. the world needs more of them. toronto seems like a great city with a cool vibe.

ya know, I saw this guy setting up on Sunday in the square while I was watching the men's 100M outside Olympic Spirit...shoulda challenged him :p

Very nice shot btw

Mr. Peru eh!

I bet i can beat that guy!!!!!

Is he good? ...guess he has to be...right?

from one mr. peru to another...nice pic sam!

In the first photo, Mr. Peru kind of looks like that Russell "I'll buy your jewellery" Oliver guy.

This picture depicts one of the many things that go on in a city...passing Dundas Square I myself did not ever notice this...and i thought that I knew the whole city. What I do not understand is how people can say that this shot is amazing and beautiful and praise it...it is not "artsy" in anyway but more of a realistic everyday photo that anyone can take. I like Sam's artistic photographs but I also really enjoy the ones that show life in Toronto through his eyes.

Yeay! Go Master Mr. Peru!

GO GO GO

I cheer for you

cause Im from Peru

thank you for taking pictures of our city (-.-)

AMAZING street photography. just when i thought your specialty was buildings and places you surprise me with this. you seem very adept at capturing any subject.

Did you happen to catch the name of the player on the right? He look kind of like a chess player I knew several years ago.

Great shot! You have quite the talent.
Could double as the next greatest Tim Horton's commercial - some nice shots of the logo on the cup! ;)

I think this is a great "day in the life" sort of photo. I get a chuckle our of Mr. Peru's "bling-bling". Don't think I've ever seen a necklace that big!

life is a stalemate...

This is Roaul, Spuer star Superdancer. Not only was he at Future's but he was also the dancing man out side of World OF Shoes, the store at the corner of Yonge and Dundas before it was turned into that ad saturated thing they nowadays call a "public square".

it's Tim Horton's vs. Starbucks! Go Tim's!

Every time I see Raoul there I wish I had my camera on me. Thanks for capturing this bizarre soul for us.
I remember him from his Raoul Superstar Dancer days on that very same spot, 10 years ago, when the jeans store, the shoe store, and the Lick's were on that block of Yonge Street. Raoul used to show up with similar signs announcing that he was the best dancer in the world, and offering lessons to the women who walked past the shoe store. Whatever his motivations or delusions, he had energy, because he would dance for 8 hours a day in summer heat to lousy techno pumping out of one distorting speaker in front of the "World of Shoes."
One of the more interesting characters in Toronto, Mr. Raoul Superstar is...

he looks like a really cool old guy. is that you the one who's playing with him?

Now I know what I'm going to do when I retire.