Canadian Quits Marketing To Photo Duck Farms, Still Ends Up Paid In RMB
KEY POINTS
- •Graeme Kennedy moved from a small Canadian town to Shanghai in 2014, initially working in marketing.
- •He launched a photography business in 2019, starting with under 20,000 RMB monthly earning and many free gigs to build his portfolio.
- •Kennedy co-created the SaintCavish documentary series, earning a James Beard nomination and 15 million views before calling Shanghai home after 12 years.
Graeme Kennedy left his 4,000-person Canadian Rockies hometown—where shoveling neighbors' snow is community currency—to sell overpriced snacks to British school kids in Shanghai starting 2014. Despite knowing less about China than your average western headline-scorer, he bought a one-way ticket and spent five years selling luxury hospitality gigs between spreadsheet hell and Instagram dreams. In 2019, he jumped ship, starting a self-taught photography biz making less than 20,000 RMB/month, covering rent, snacks, and new camera toys by shooting friends' bars and mushroom farms. Eleven years as an expat later, with a James Beard nomination and a 15 million YouTube fanbase, he calls Shanghai home—because Canada never returned his calls.
Share the Story
(1 of 3)Man moves across the world to escape Canadian snow only to get paid in RMB for duck farms and tea shots. Travel goals or midlife crisis?
Spent a decade fleeing Canada’s 4,000-person town only to create a photography hustle funded by mushroom harvesters and duck whisperers in Shanghai.
Turns out quitting marketing for photography doesn’t mean quitting low pay—just swapping maple syrup for RMB and maple leaves for duck feathers.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 8/2/2026 | Author: Sophie Steiner
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