Take Your Seat

Just as Scorsese determines what shows up on the big screen, you get to decide what goes up on the biggest screen of all — your life. That's the idea behind Take Your Seat.

Every photo is real. The chair is physically placed in each location — on mountaintops, in deserts, at the edge of glaciers, in bustling city squares. Nothing is composited. Nothing is photoshopped in. Randy and Spencer carry that chair everywhere, set it up, and capture the moment.

The director's chair is an invitation. It says: this seat is for you. The world is your set. What story are you going to tell?

Randy VanDerStarren holds a film degree from Queen's University. He spent decades in the corporate world — first in advertising at agencies like Ogilvy, BBDO, and Young & Rubicam, working on campaigns for Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and other global brands. Then he moved to Bay Street as president of a wealth management firm.

In 2015, he left it all behind to pursue photography full-time. Not as a hobby. As a mission. He wanted to show his four children — and the world — what it looks like to actually direct your own life instead of following someone else's script.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, has won the Canadian Ethnic Media Association's Innovation Award and been named among their Photojournalists of the Year. CNN International has interviewed him. The Bangkok Post put him on the front page.

Spencer is Randy's son and creative partner. He serves as co-photographer, digital director, and co-author of the Take Your Seat book. The father-son dynamic adds a generational layer to the project — it's not just about one man's vision, it's about passing that ethos of intentional living to the next generation.