Daniel Fast Photography

Juneteenth. Sit-in organized by to demand the defunding of the Toronto Police Service.

Juneteenth.
R&B/Dancehall artist charges up the crowd during the Bay St. sit-in with an incredible and emotional performance. @ Toronto, Ontario

Juneteenth.
Volunteers and members of Not Another Black Life dance on the back of a flatbed truck carrying the DJ booth and loudspeakers down Bay St. during a sit-in orchestrated by the organization.

June 19th, Bay St. sit-in.
A demonstration organized by Not Another Black Life was held in solidarity with Black Americans celebrating Juneteenth. People occupied Bay st. in a “celebration of Freedom and Liberation,” while demanding the police be defunded and abolished.

The concrete skeleton of a new development project looms over a ger tent set up in the yard of a construction site in District 3, Ulaanbaatar.

A couple hangs out in front of the State Department store early one evening in Ulaanbaatar.
Mongolia was aided, and subsequently heavily influenced, by the Soviet Union in their quest for independence from China and became the Mongolian People’s Republic between 1924 and 1992. While never officially part of the USSR, many Soviet era architecture and remnants of infrastructure remain.

Overlooking railway tracks that lead through the city, industrial yards contrasting with new development projects. Ulaanbaatar is known as a boomtown, flooded by foreign investors after literally striking gold (copper, and coal) in the early 2000’s. Coal, crude oil, gold, and cashmere are transported mainly to China and Russia by rail from here.

After spending about 12 days traveling through the vast open country, returning to the densely populated city was quite a shock.
Looking north, past the industrial parks and Soviet era high rises, you can see the white tents and tin roofed houses that stretch on forever all around the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The mass migration to urban centers happening all over the world is plain to see here. The population has nearly doubled in the last decade as environmental changes make nomadic life increasingly unstable. It is estimated that just over half of the population of Ulaanbaatar (1.4m) lives in these outer districts. With no access to electricity, residents burn coal to heat their gers, causing an increase in air pollution.
Citizens are demanding better infrastructure and results, as plans and promises have been made and remade by city authorities to expand the grid and build affordable housing. The government has promised to intervene, as public pressure grows, but the future is still uncertain. It’s understandable why many are hoping to maintain a more traditionally nomadic life, away from the city, and why organizations working with them are so important. @ Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Livestock are crucial for survival to many people in Mongolia, as the animals can potentially be their only source of income. However, increasing environmental issues and socio-economic shifts are making it more and more difficult for herders to make a living. @ Mongolia

Motorcycles are popular outside the city. They're used to bring the kids to school, round up the herd, or get to the nearest store. For the most part, an off road bike can handle the terrain.

But when asked, most people I met said they would still take a horse over a motorcycle. They need gas, sometimes breakdown, and definitely could not get through the stream we crossed on horseback leaving the national park.

But an extra pair of shoes is always a good idea.