HERE AND GONE: PHOTOS OF AN EPHEMERAL CITY
Photo by Kris Hooper
Here and Gone: Photos of an Ephemeral City was a virtual exhibition of street photography produced by the members of the Vancouver Street Photography Collective. Our collective celebrated a diverse, complex, and often hidden Vancouver that challenged the tourist images of a pristine city bounded by mountains and ocean. In this exhibition, we displayed photographs of Vancouver by our members, each of whom had a particular vision of the city. While we drew upon rich street photography history, we also came to the city with fresh eyes and a new duty to create a record of Vancouver as it existed then with all its complexity and nuance, whether it was the night-time streets of a changing Chinatown, the social complexity of the Downtown Eastside, or the vibrancy of the Granville Strip. Vancouver was an ever-changing city where cultures intersected in complex and dynamic ways, giving rise to new spaces of city life. These spaces, while often fleeting and ephemeral, were important reminders of who resided in the city.
Take a moment and scroll through our images of the city.
This event was part of the 2020 Capture Photography Festival's Events Program.
Rolf Erni
Little Mountain 1, 2009
In 2008, the government-run housing site Little Mountain was sold to a developer committed to building mixed housing. The tenants of all 224 units were evicted, buildings boarded up, and yet more than a decade later the project remains incomplete.
Rolf Erni
Little Mountain 2, 2009
In 2008, the government-run housing site Little Mountain was sold to a developer committed to building mixed housing. The tenants of all 224 units were evicted, buildings boarded up, and yet more than a decade later the project remains incomplete.
Jan Nelmar Cabiladas
Carry On, 2020
Change is permanent. Just keep moving forward.
Paul Fernandez
For Lease
Another pricey space waiting for a tenant, Vancouver downtown.
Paul Fernandez
Paul Fernandez
Lost souls
Commercial Drive neighbourhood tradition, Parade of Lost Souls.
Allan Florendo
Colors in My Mind
What I love about street photography is the opportunity to observe people, places, things around me and how these converge to create an imagery. I shot this at one of my favorite events, the Vancouver Mural Festival.
Allan Florendo
Slice of Life
I see through these tiny boxes, some empty, and some having a life on its own. Everything converges in this magnificent architectural structure of concrete and steel, remembering people who have built it both inside and outside.
Kathryn Ford
Look through any window, 2020
Walking past a window on the outskirts of Chinatown, I looked up and saw this collection of random artifacts, along with the reflection. Reflections in city windows fascinate me, always changing with the light and the weather. And how did that elephant end up next to a smug-looking doll?
Kathryn Ford
You always need an umbrella, 2019
In the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, you’re always aware of humanity. Every day brings a reminder about how quickly a person’s fortune can change: you have a home, but get injured, and then you get addicted to oxy, and you lose your job, so you head to the city to try to find your way again, but things still don’t work out and one day you’re sleeping on a dirty sidewalk under an umbrella, nearly invisible. Nearly gone.
Doris Fiedrich
Ode to Fred, 2018
A man stares into a book shop window. Maybe he is reminiscing about a time that is no more, but we cannot know his story. However, it is fortunate to spot an everyday scene in this ever-changing city that is not filled with contemporaneous objects and accompanying devices.
Doris Fiedrich
I sometimes feel lost in this city, 2019
This in-camera, double-exposure image is a view from Gastown that attempts to amalgamate some layers of Vancouver: its young, yet eclectic history, its ceaseless growth, its often unsavoury back alleys, and even its fickle weather.
Lily Hawrysh
The Doppelgänger, 2018
Lily Hawrysh
It's Around Here Somewhere, 2019
Ian Heffernan
Smokie, 2020
The hot dog stands on the corner of Granville and South Georgia are a permanent fixture of the city and something so familiar to anybody living here. This corner is one of the most vibrant in the city somewhere which I am constantly drawn to shoot, given the diversity of people coming through this intersection.
Ian Heffernan
Chinese New Year, 2020
Chinese New Year in Vancouver. Chinatown is an area which is becoming more and more gentrified as time goes on and I believe as street photographers we have a responsibility to document this area and community.
Jody Hill
Granite Windows, 2020
Using the geometry of these magnificent buildings, 'Granite Windows' looks to cherish the history of our city and leaves our imagination to linger in the abstract of time.
Kris Hooper
East Vancouver Home from Back Alley on a Moonless Night, 2019
East Vancouver is littered with eccentric detached homes, holdovers from a previous version of the city. They are deep expressions of those who live in them, while also being unattainable aspirational objects for the vast majority of residents.
Kris Hooper
Lillooet St at E 24th Ave, 2019
East Vancouver is littered with eccentric detached homes, holdovers from a previous version of the city. They are deep expressions of those who live in them, while also being unattainable aspirational objects for the vast majority of residents.
Stephen Huen
Bike Repair, 2017
In the middle of the lively and chic Gastown, tucked away in a hidden alleyway, a woman repaired a bicycle in front of her tent home.
Stephen Huen
Flag Hanging, 2017
In increasingly gentrified Chinatown, a man was having fun hanging a flag outside of a closed traditional salon.
Mark Klipa
Tyee, 2019
We think of buildings as permanent, but often treat them as disposable. Low-rise real estate is on the way out and will soon be forgotten except in story. Photographs are my attempt to preserve the ones I see where I live and work.
Mark Klipa
Del Mar, 2019
We think of buildings as permanent, but often treat them as disposable. Low-rise real estate is on the way out and will soon be forgotten except in story. Photographs are my attempt to preserve the ones I see where I live and work.
Shelley Lai
Home Again, 2020
Home is an often intangible concept in Vancouver—a city marked by development pressures and pricey real estate, inadequate rental and social housing, and increasing homelessness. In 1975 the Manhattan Apartments narrowly escaped demolition—rescued by its original tenants who mounted a “Save-The-Manhattan” campaign and later formed The Manhattan Co-operative Housing Association.
Ivan Lee
Hidden in Plain Sight
Alleys are a common sight in downtown Vancouver, however, they're often disregarded and ignored, yet they are places full of colourful art and offer a unique perspective. Next time you come across an alley it might be worth your while to stop and take a look, you never know what might find in this hidden world.
Ivan Lee
A Dog's World
Vancouver is also known as a city of dogs as many can be seen along the streets and in our parks, but very few of us wonder what our city looks like from their perspective. A Dog's World captures one such moment in a busy downtown festival, where the familiar scenes of a crowd of music lovers feels different from the world of our four legged friends.
Chris McCann
In Another Life, 2020
Both of Chris's images play with the notion of time in the ephemeral city. Shot on film using vintage SLRs to create a sense of timelessness, these photographs challenge the notion that the new, the bright and the shiny is always better and asks, how can we halt time in the modern cityscape?
Chris McCann
Classic, 2019
Both of Chris's images play with the notion of time in the ephemeral city. Shot on film using vintage SLRs to create a sense of timelessness, these photographs challenge the notion that the new, the bright and the shiny is always better and asks, how can we halt time in the modern cityscape?
Daniel Mosquin
Granville Street in Reflection, 2020
A dirty mirror provides a glimpse of a Granville Street scene on the weekend prior to widespread COVID-19 isolation. Even among the worries and tension, some still make the time for important things like feeling the kiss of the sun or dancing to a street musician.
Daniel Mosquin
Waterfront Station, 2020
The Iconic columns of Waterfront Station have presided over the theatre of the city's streets since 1914. Despite the ever-changing stories at their foundations, it is rare to see the columns themselves in an ephemeral way.
Liza Navarro
Together we stand, 2019
On September 27, 2019, over 100,000 people of all ages and cultures united on the streets of Vancouver for the global climate strike. This peaceful march that will live on for years to come raised awareness about climate change and was characterized by the prominent and rising voices of the next generation that resides in this city.
Craig Sheppard
Step Into, 2020
Craig's images display glimpses of iconic Vancouver architecture while also hinting at other aspects ranging from social status to the climatic. Both are chance encounters in a city of limitless possibilities.
Craig Sheppard
Zigzag, 2019
Craig's images display glimpses of iconic Vancouver architecture while also hinting at other aspects ranging from social status to the climatic. Both are chance encounters in a city of limitless possibilities.
Daniel Sneep
Oceanic Plaza 2019
This view from my office window, during a February flurry, represents the seasonality of Vancouver, the order of its public spaces, and the resilience of its residents. The snow began melting soon after it settled, but remained long enough to record the passage of all those still going about their business, despite the inclement conditions.
Daniel Sneep
Royal Centre 2019
This scene to me reflects a typical office and public space in the downtown business district of the city, and the lone silhouette represents the seeming anonymity of those who make their living there. The totem is a vestige of the rich cultural heritage of our region, and the plants bring an organic element into what is an otherwise empty, almost sterile urban setting.
Barbara Strigel
After Brueghel, 2020
Vancouver’s alleys are the back story. In this image, snow brings neighbors together to shovel their Kitsilano Alley.
Barbara Strigel
Circling, 2020
Down below the Granville Bridge, a side street curves into a parking lot. Expressionist tire tracks transform the snow into a painterly scene.
Peter Toth
Untitled, 2020
With an ever-present sense of change, and gentrification, neon lights take me to an era where Vancouver was not a metropolitan city with a growing homogeneity, but with its own sense of uniqueness and exploration.
Stuart Weir
Sunshine and Street Food, 2019
As many photographers and painters know, light is a key tool to bringing our subject(s) into focus, whatever they may be. For myself, I believe that one of the key elements of Fred Herzog’s work is that he utilized an often overlooked element in Vancouver: it’s unique lighting due to climate conditions and season, and how Vancouver light can have a “warm” glow at certain parts of the year. I’ve chosen this photograph not only for it’s humorous and relatable content, but also for it’s sense of place because of one of this city’s most Ephemeral elements: the light itself.
Trevor Wide
Crow, 2020
It's not just the people of this city, bit it's all living things. A symbol seen in many of our Vancouver streets, from when it became a city to today. A timeless reminder of what resides in this beautiful city.
Trevor Wide
Noir, 2020
The hidden timeless moments that Vancouver offers is a history of the people within it. A record of humanity in a city where an appreciation for how beautiful day to day life can be, now and then, here or gone.
Sharon Wish
Rooms, 2010
This photograph is resonant of Vancouver in the past. It was time when old structures were allowed to take their place and stand proudly in the fabric of Vancouver’s urban landscape with no judgement.
Sharon Wish
Just Another Heartbreak In The City, 2019
This photograph is resonant of Vancouver in the future. When a city changes too fast it not only effects one visually, but also emotionally. Sometimes it creates a heavy heart and yearning for what once was.
Jake Wong
The Green Building, 2019
The swaying shayla caught my eye as she crossed this quiet street in Western Canada's oldest city, New Westminster. As I look at this photo, it reminds me of the importance for a city to preserve its past yet add to its mosaic of different cultures. Shown in the background is the Columbia Theatre built in 1937 and in the foreground is the Al-Hidayah School.
Jake Wong
Post-it and Say Goodbye, 2019
Vancouver's window of sadness, heartbreak, love and goodbyes. The Chocolate Mousse Kitchenware had been in Vancouver's Westend for 33 years. The post-it notes share a community message. A message of the sadness of another locally owned shop forced to close. The notes cast its shadow on the ground laying to rest a store of once upon a time.
Mike Wong
Prime Mover, 2008
Beyond the popular steam clock, souvenir stores, restaurants and other tourist attractions in present day Gastown, there is a side to Vancouver's historic district that visitors often overlook.
Avoiding demolition when a proposed freeway project failed in the early 1970s, Gastown was Vancouver's first central business district during the late 1800s and a warehousing district for wholesale produce distribution during the early 1900s before it fell into a steep decline after the Great Depression.
Mike Wong
I See the Work of Gifted Hands, 2008
Probably gathering dust somewhere in a warehouse, the beloved Only Seafoods Cafe's neon sign was a fixture at 20 East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside since 1950 when Vancouver was the neon capital of Canada.
Before its decline, the Downtown Eastside was Vancouver's central hub featuring: city hall - Holden Building (1924 to 1936), City Market Building (1898 to 1929) and 125 Powell Street (1886 to 1898); the Carnegie Library; the provincial courthouse (demolished) at Victory Square; the first city hospital (demolished); numerous banks; and the main shopping district.
Sergine Zougbédé
The Astoria, 2018
The Astoria is a place that reinvents itself but persists as an emblematic venue of the Downtown Eastside in our landscape-changing city. A place where different cultures intersect for a moment.
Sergine Zougbédé
Antisocial, 2018
Van Mural Fest is the occasion to discover colourful back alleys, hidden treasures that shape the constantly-evolving face of the city. It also the occasion to witness the new intercultural spaces that rise for a fleeting moment.