HideSeek | Downtown Toronto

We’re all about buying experiences over things, so when I first saw ads on Instagram for HideSeek, a pop-up experience in downtown Toronto, I knew I had to get tickets right away! HideSeek is an interactive museum inspired by childhood nostalgia. I am a ’90s baby and someone who is very nostalgic (give me anything that gives me a little blast from the past and you’ll be pulling at my heart strings!), so I really wanted to dive into this experience!

I searched Pinterest for ’90s wardrobe inspiration (I’m also a huge lover of dressing up for the occasion lol). Most people on HideSeek’s Instagram and/or on Pinterest were wearing jeans…but I HATE jeans. Instead I wore black Gym Shark leggings–not ’90s inspired, but was comfy and neutral for the occasion. I purchased a couple of 90’s inspired tees from Forever21, wore a bright pink jacket, tied a denim shirt around my waist (adding the denim effect without actually having to wear it on my legs), popped in some hoop earrings, and broke out my old black converse!

My sister’s sister in law, Lacey-Rose, and her daughter, Hazel, joined us for our trip. They were SO ADORABLE wearing matching outfits — denim on denim, Mickey Mouse t-shirts, high-top hair buns, and hoop earrings.

Overall, HideSeek’s instalments were great to look at, but I felt like it weighed more heavily on the photo opportunity experience. If you’re looking for a place to actually play or learn, I would go somewhere else. I was fully underwhelmed by the lack thereof. If you’re looking for a place to take cute Instagram photos, this is definitely the place! It hasn’t put a damper on my itch to visit other interactive museums in the area! Currently on my bucket list:

Museum of Illusions
The Funhouse
Eye Candy⁣⠀

On the photography aspect:

I’m trying to get better about documenting our own memories and blogging about our personal experiences. I did it SO often growing up, which is how my love for photography started! Now that I professionally document memories for others, I try no to bring my camera to personal things so I can be present and not “work”. ⁣⠀
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But I tried REALLLLY hard this time.⠀
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Alex took the majority of the photos (as you can probably tell)! It was quite the challenge trying to go through the interactive instalments swiftly, yet still try to get the settings right. ⁣⠀
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I did the editing and wowoweeee that was a challenge. We are really good at finding the right light (natural light) and finding backgrounds that work well with that light. We also typically have our reflector to help manipulate light, as well as our strobes for when we have a lack of it. We obviously could’t lug all our equipment around for the sake of taking our own personal photos. Although I thought it was “awful lighting”, all it really was was just d i f f e r e n t . And things that are different or things that push us out of our comfort zone help us grow. It was a fun challenge to try and nail these photos!⁣⠀
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Did you grow up in the ’90s? Which were the most nostalgic instalments for you to look at? Tell me in the comment section below!