Featured Member of the Month
Terry Sanderson
What one piece of advice would you give street photographers just starting out?
Be patient with finding your 'style'. If you are unsure what to shoot at first, start by mimicking styles or photographers that you are naturally drawn to, and as you are doing that you will find that your own personal process and style will start revealing itself over time. Once you find that, you will be shooting like yourself forever.
What are your top two places in Vancouver for shooting and why?
Gastown/Chinatown and Skytrain. Both are fairly busy places for the sheer variety of people. Gastown is great in the rain as it has a lot of texture and gritty backgrounds. Skytrain is a constantly moving palette of people and locations, and often interesting people or characters are standing still giving you time to find a shot or composition.
Which three street photographers have influenced your work the most?
Saul Leiter and Fred Herzog for just looking at the world through a different filter, the strong arrangement of shapes and colors, and seeing or anticipating 'the frame' in a scene. Vivian Meir for the relentless ability to pay close enough attention to her surroundings and be so consistently in the right spot at the right time, and always prepared to make the capture.
Describe your work using up to four keywords.
Spontaneous, Uncluttered, Bold
Tell us about (up to 5) books, music or other art forms that have an effect on your work.
Stanley Kubrick - Cinematography is a heavy influence, and Kubrick has almost every frame considered, designed and planned with purpose.
Guitar Heavy Rock - The style of music and city/urban environments share an energy that can be tapped.
Emily Carr - Channeled the vibe of the West Coast in a unique and personal way that anybody who spends time in the more remote coastal areas of BC just 'gets'.
Our Members
Carlos Alfaro
My name is Carlos, I am a 21 years old photographer from El Salvador, based as an international student in Canada. I am nature macro photography lover, but even though I have recently started in street photography, I am passionate to chase and capture those unique moments outside
Ariela Badenas
Ariela is a hobby photographer from the Philippines who shoots, develops and processes all of her film. While her background is in food science and entrepreneurship, film photography resonates with her in all aspects. It is the perfect melding of art, science, and self-expression. She has a propensity to tinker with things so her deep love for vintage cameras also comes as a given. She is most drawn to taking images that have soft light and symmetry.
Website: www.arielab.ca
Cory Bujnowicz
Cory is a photographer with an appreciation for cameras and practices both new and old.
Phil Chornohus
Hi, My name is Phil and I live in New Westminster. My day job is working in the visual effects industry as a compositing artist. I have worked on everything from monsters fighting each other in Godzilla Vs Kong to rainy car chases in The Batman. When covid happened I was laid off and needed to fulfill my creativity elsewhere, so I picked up a point and shoot camera from ebay and the addiction began. It is a perfect way for me to study light and composition away from my desk and has led me to see the streets of Vancouver with a whole new eye.
Instagram: @phil.a.c
Jean-Francois Cleroux
Jean-Francois is from Montreal, Quebec. From a young age, he fell in love with photographic images and knew that he wanted to one day create his own. Jean-Francois considers himself a Flâneur as he loves watching people and the happenings on the streets and is just as happy wondering with or without a camera. He has combined his two loves in Street Photography. He is an Artist first and foremost and uses his imaginative energies to create art. Francois has taught classes and workshops throughout Europe, including Paris and Venice, and many cities in the US and Canada, including Seattle, NY, Montreal, and Vancouver. He has been published in various magazines, including the cover of ‘Popular Photography,’ the European ‘Photo’ Magazine, and others.
Website: www.StreetsIHaveWalked.com
Instagram: @StreetsIHaveWalked
Juan Contreras
I am Juan Contreras, a photographer and oil painter based in Vancouver. I developed my artistic vocabulary with formal art education at Emily Carr University, Langara College and PhotoEspaña. My signature works explore the dynamics of the urban environment, creating projects related to the life of the human being in urban scenes.
Website: https://www.juancontreras.art
David J. Del Grande
David J. Del Grande spent nearly a decade as a full-time reporter. Without fail, his photography enhanced the quality of his reporting work, gaining him international recognition on multiple occasions. He's currently launching a humble publishing company that will focus on visual expression, creative independence and a step toward spiritual actualization. Del Grande's camera and essays continue to encapsulate his ideal of reality, family and love.
Francis Karl dela Peña
Francis Karl dela Peña developed his interest in photography when he was working in Dubai as a special education teacher. It was there that he purchased his first camera. Being in a place that was vastly different from his small town in the Philippines, he was interested in the city’s rich culture and vibrant daily life, capturing through the lens its diverse people, the set of mores and moods of everyday characters that can be seen in its bustling streets.
For Karl, his most humbling experience as a photographer came every Ramadan when he went around various mosques to observe the people celebrating Iftar, the time of day when Muslims break their fast by sharing a feast with the community. Fascinated by the devotion Muslims have to their faith, he documented the event daily, photographing various activities from the late afternoon prayer, to the preparation and sharing of meals. His work on Iftar was featured on the CNN Arabic website.
Some of his other works can also be seen in the Filipino Times, FujiFilm Middle East, Gulf Photo Plus, and #MyDubai, where some of his photos were projected on the sail of the Burj Al Arab and on a big screen at the Dubai Mall.
Having moved to Vancouver for over three years now, Karl carries with him the same passion in photography. He is loving the city’s street photography scene, and apart from that, he also loves taking photos of nature, his food, and his cat, named Lakan.
Rolf Erni
Rolf brings together a background in typography and the graphic arts with an ongoing curiosity about cities and their inhabitants. Over time he has come to appreciate the process of creating images as much as the result. He likes the moment of chance and unpredictability with every picture taken. His work is influenced by Ernst Haas, William Eggleston and the painters Paul Klee and Edward Hopper.
Cleo Espiritu
Cleo is a hobbyist photographer from Burnaby. She enjoys documenting her travels and the day-to-day through photographs.
Kathryn Ford
Kathryn Ford got her first camera - an Anny 44 - at the age of 10. (She took photo with this bio with that camera. Clearly she wasn’t very good at making her subjects feel at ease!) The Anny is long gone (sadly) but Kathryn is still taking photos. She views herself as a bit of a photographic magpie - she will photograph whatever gets her attention, from human ephemera - people and their works - on downtown streets to birds and plants in the wild. One day she will break out the tripod and get a decent shot of the moon. (Sometimes you do need the gear!) A VANSPC member since the beginning, Kathryn values the friendships and street photography insights she has gained from being in the collective. You can find her on IG as @katymight and newly on Grainery with the same handle.
Doris Fiedrich
Early in her photographic journey, Doris Fiedrich engaged in an eclectic mix of formal training and workshops and a lot of intensive self-study. This led to working exclusively with black and white film for several years, including darkroom work and traditional hand-colouring techniques. In the mid-1990s, she developed her business as a family and children’s portraitist and event photographer. Concurrently, she became involved with the Vancouver flamenco community photographing dance rehearsals and performances. As a member of Artists in our Midst, she exhibited with this diverse group of artists for 10 years. Her work has also been shown with the long defunct Exposure Gallery and Photo Haus Vancouver, among other local venues.
In later years, studies in fine art and art history became stepping stones for searching out alternative processes: combining silk screen printing, drawing and painting, and collaging with photography. Although Doris now works mostly with digital imaging, she continues to explore these ideas within her personal photography projects. Her interests include street photography,
portraiture, landscape, the ever changing city, and the bees, the birds and the plants.
https://500px.com/dofiedrich
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfiedrich/
Allan Florendo
Allan grew up in the hustle and bustle of Manila, Philippines. He started dabbling with photography during his university years with a Nikon FM1 as his main weapon. He then began shooting professionally in the Philippines doing commercial, advertising and editorial photography but it was street photography that truly captured his eye. His work has been recognized in several online communities and it was in 2016 that he had the opportunity to publish his own street photography book entitled “Crossroads: A Street Collection.” A proud graduate of APF's The Art of Visual Storytelling, Allan takes his style of photography to the streets of Vancouver where he now lives with his family.
Website: www.allanflorendo.com
Kent Harkness
Amateur photographer with dreams of bigger things. I’ve always enjoyed experimenting and taking photographs. In late 2020, on advice from my brother, I bought my first real camera and haven’t looked back. My main interest lies in street photography, and Vancouver has been my subject matter primarily. I love the convergence of chance, opportunity and luck that’s involved in making street photographs. Over time, I’ve become most interested in shooting black & white.
Website: kentharknessphotography.com
Instagram: @psyclops_photography
Carol How
Carol is a Fine art, street and urbanscape photographer.
She grew up in an older neighborhood in Calgary, with railyards, lumber yards and deteriorating buildings. This became a long time 'playground' and had an enduring effect on her psyche and visual interpretation.
From early self studies of different visual artists, she discovered and often uses symbolism and spatial viewpoints as elements of her images to provoke thought or emotion.
After moving to Vancouver, Carol took many of Langara's photography courses and during that time, she rediscovered old familiar lifestyle and urban scenes, that naturally gravitated into her current street and urban photography, along with several other genres. Street and urbanscape photography remains a passion.
Her images have been exhibited in various places in Lethbridge, Surrey and Vancouver. The City of Surrey has purchased a body of 8 environmental images for a travelling exhibit.
More recently, Carol is very pleased that The Commotion http://thecommotion.ca/ is sponsoring some of her work.
Ian Heffernan
Ian, an Irish Street Photographer relocated to Vancouver. hephph@gmail.com
Maggie Huang
I document life.
Nathan Griffiths
Visual journalist and aspiring street photographer. Analogue collage. Exploring the juncture of graphic design and documentary photography.
Website: http://njgriffiths.github.io/
Lily Hawrysh
Lily is an iPhone photographer born and bred in East Vancouver. Finding beauty in the ‘everyday’.
Jody Hill
Jody is a photographer from Vancouver, Canada. Having a background in film and video, Jody started to pursue photography passionately in 2010. Immediately he learned to shoot film on his first camera - Canon AE1. Over the years he continued learning this craft on multiple formats, cameras and even venturing into Large Format and Wet Plate Collodion photography. Jody develops and scans all his film at home and loves every bit of the tangible process that film offers.
With a sense of strong contrast, compositions and mood, Jody shoots with a sense of cinematic atmosphere. Shooting the majority of his work on black and white films, he intends to capture what a scene feels like rather than looks. Often forgoing technical perfection he looks to shoot with a sense of adventure and journey.
Kris Hooper
Kris Hooper is a photographer working in the candid/street tradition. Shooting primarily in black and white film, Kris’ work attempts to reveal fresh perspectives on the everyday, and expose beauty hidden in plain view.
Website krishooperphoto.com
Zachary Hsu
Originally from Taiwan and now a citizen of the world, I have embarked on a transformative journey, immersing myself in different cultures and capturing the essence of life through the lens of street photography. With each click of the shutter, I strive to reveal the unique perspectives and hidden narratives that unfold before me.
Stephen Huen
I am an amateur photographer based in Vancouver, Canada. Coming from a computer background, I look at things logically and structurally. They are zeroes and ones. Photographs are different. They can just be snapshots of reality but they are usually much more than that. They represent the photographer’s view and interpretation. They elicit emotions, be they happiness, appreciation, antipathy, gratification or astonishment. Those are things that computer codes don’t usually give you.
Website: http://stephenhuen.photo
Facebook: https://facebook.com/stephenhuenphoto
Jax
Jax is from East Van. She enjoys candid street portraiture and would like to have met Lisette Model and Ernst Haas.
Chelsea Ker
Chelsea is a born and raised Vancouverite whose photography may best be described as observations in the ordinary. She is drawn to those overlooked moments on the street that strike the balance between utility and beauty, the mundane and the comedic.
Instagram: instagram.com/kerandcamera
Website: kervisuals.com/photography
Reimar Koch
Curiosity feeds my photography. The joy of capturing the moment through a lens. Always more to learn about light and perspective. Street, landscape and the click of the shutter.
IG: @markinvan.look
Adam K.
Adam is a multidisciplinary photo and videographer, with a focus on incidental documentary. Adam shoots in both analog and digital, capturing the infinite rectangles of daily life in whatever mundane or chaotic configuration they present themselves in.
Shelley Lai
Local East Vancouver photographer. Documenting the city’s historic spaces and the diverse peoples who inhabit them.
Jason Lapeyre
Jason is a writer/director working in film and television who is a recent transplant to Vancouver. He grew up an army brat and lived all over the place, including India, Germany and Japan. He’s been shooting street photography as a dedicated amateur since the ‘90s, starting in film and aggressively resisting the transition to digital. In recent years he’s fallen hard for medium format, even though it makes street shooting way more difficult. His favourite street photographers are Vivian Meier, Weegee, Bill Cunningham and Ricky Powell. You can see more of his work at jasonlapeyre.com.
Andy Laycock
Like many people, I first became fascinated by photographs while poring over the family album and the picture magazines of the day. It wasn’t until my early 20’s, when I could afford my first camera, that I actually began photographing in earnest. I was a poor university student so I used BW film, which I developed and printed myself to save on processing charges. Shooting colour was a luxury until I was out in the workforce and could afford the processing charges. I didn’t have a real focus photographically and eventually stagnated, until I happened to take a course on Photo Documenting Vancouver. The instructor introduced me to books by the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Helen Levitt and Garry Winogrand. That changed everything. Not only did it show me that there were photographs to be made all around me, but that there was a trove of fantastic photo books at the public library. Since then I have been passionate about urban photography and collecting photo books.
Ivan Lee
Ivan is based in Vancouver, Canada and with an aim to capture quiet moments of everyday life in this vibrant city and sharing his unique perspective. He is drawn to how light and shadow plays with the many reflective surfaces in the city.
Jim Lowrie
Living the majority of my life in greater Vancouver, I have had a fascination for the visual arts and in particular photography since an early age. My primary interests are in landscape, travel, and street photography. Acquiring my first DSLR in the early 2000's was an eye opener for me as I slowly learned to control the camera and obtain the results I was visualizing in my mind's eye. I am a committed life long learner always on the look-out for new subjects and techniques. I am inspired by the work of many of the classic street photographers including Meir, Doisneau, Herzog, and Cartier-Bresson, but also equally inspired by some of the present day street and urban landscape photographers including Frederick Trovatten, Jack Curran, Roff Smith, Mark Fearnley, and Allan Shaller.
Some of my images can be found on instagram @jlowriephotography or on flickr.com/people/Jim-Lowrie
Rob Lyons
Rob Lyons is a professional filmmaker, photographer, and founder of Super Creative. He began his career in the early 2000s by documenting his friends who were professional skateboarders which led to attending the Digital Film Production program at the Art Institute of Vancouver. From portraits, products and editorial to landscapes, fashion, and medical, Rob has shot just about everything under the Sun, and even uses a special telescope and camera to shoot closeups of that too! You can find Rob hosting several photo/video centric YouTube shows, in his rooftop observatory, developing film in his bathroom, or out photographing the streets of Vancouver where he was born and raised, but only at night and in the rain.
Vadim Marmer
I am an amateur photographer and have been taking street photos for about 20 years (on and off). I search for moments with emotions and meanings and try to give them a nice frame. These moments don’t have to be perfect as long as they reveal something real or imaginary. My tastes are very eclectic: from decisive moments and snapshot aesthetics to street portraits to new topographics and boring post cards. In the real life, I’m a professor of economics.
Brooke McAllister
Brooke enjoys capturing a broad range of subjects and has had a portrait photography business since 2008. Some of her most meaningful experiences in her life have come through a connection with photography. She loves found geometry and creating urban abstracts. To her, the challenge of street photography is to not only find a story or composition that exists only for a second or from a specific vantage point but the reclaiming of presence that is required to truly see and create art. Originally from California, she has lived her entire life on the west coast making her way north from Ojai, Santa Cruz, Seattle and presently, Vancouver.
Chris McCann
In her photography, Chris endeavours to create images that are timeless, placeless and visceral; that evoke an emotion. Using techniques such as intentional camera movement, motion blur and double exposures and drawing on inspiration from Expressionist and Surrealist art, she transforms everyday scenes into dreamscapes
Daniel Mosquin
Daniel attempts to photograph beauty in both the scene and the moment with his street photography.
Tanya Murchie
Tanya recently returned to Canada after living 12 wonderful years in Central Mexico. Now residing in Sidney, BC is vice president of the local camera club and contributes to Seaside Magazine. A Fujix shooter with a passion for street portraits, ICM and dabbling into infrared photography. Photographic influencers: Diane Arbus, Olga Karlovac, Harvey Stein and Robert Frank.
Ian Galsworthy
I am an amateur photographer from Wales, UK who moved to Vancouver in 2007. Photography has been a hobby for many years, going back to the days of film which I still enjoy using from time-to-time, but now I mostly use digital as a medium. During the pandemic my photographic interests shifted from documenting family life to refocusing on the wider world and in particular street photography.
Ted Nodwell
Photographers see and feel moments that others might rush past. I am drawn to the many stories that become visible as I wander the streets. Even the smallest actions of individuals are threads woven into the bigger tapestry of daily life. The camera becomes a tool for preserving what I see and for translating my vision into two-dimensional images that can be shared.
website: nodwell.zenfolio.com
Liza Navarro (she/her)
Liza is originally from Houston, Texas and is currently a doctoral student in education at the University of British Columbia. Moving from the big, busy and bustling streets of Houston to Vancouver has been a significant and positive change in her life. When she’s not working on her research and shaping the minds of future B.C. teachers, she is exploring the city of Vancouver and beyond. She enjoys capturing unseen moments in time and thinking about the story behind the image. She is always looking to connect with different artists and contribute to new and exciting projects so please reach out to her: www.liza-navarro.com.
Derek Oss
I am an old man
living
on a dying planet
fiddling
with light
the absolute language of the sun
contact:
David Papa
Born in Vancouver, David has been taking photos since he was a kid. Just prior to the pandemic he decided to make photography a more serious endeavour... Currently shooting with a Sony A7riii, and a Olympus em-5 mkii. David has a background in anthropology, which is the other lens he sees the world through.
Daniela Peña
Daniela is fascinated with reflections and shadows. She aims to capture emotion in photographs through compositions of objects, structures, and people.
Graham Peterson
Graham Peterson is a multimedia artist with a focus on audio visual work. With a desire to explore a connection to analog mediums his photography work is shot predominantly on film, and examines the relationships of people and their spaces through street photography, geometric minimalism, abstract experimentalism, and portrait work.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/grahampeterson.photos
Website: grahampeterson.org
Jay Pozo
Jay learned photography and darkroom in the late 90s and has since been photographing life around him in one form or another. His approach to photography is akin to a situationist dérive through his physical and emotional experience of life.
Max Richter
Max Richter is an Architect who was born and grew up in Vancouver. He uses his phone to capture images of his travels through the urban and natural landscapes that he encounters.
Jae Ryan
I moved to Vancouver last summer and shortly after we arrived my mother came to visit. She pointed out that I never take pictures and it really got in my head. Shortly after that I picked up a rangefinder and a copy of Greg Girard’s “Under Vancouver”. I fell in love with that book and haven’t stopped exploring Vancouver since. As I continue to learn photography, I like to shoot everything but find the most joy in discovering how color film responds to artificial light
Terry Sanderson
Terry attended Vancouver Film School for 3D Animation and Visual Effects when the program was first rolled out, and has been working as an Animator in Vancouver ever since. A lifelong appreciation for film, photography and composition colliding with the emergence of mobile phones has opened up a whole new world of observation and capture through street photography, primarily in and around Vancouver, BC.
Allan Savarit-bodin
I'm Allan, a 24 years old boy from La Rochelle, France. I started to practice photography in 2019 which I discovered during my 3D studies and was originally doing a lot of macro. I'm working since january in Vancouver, in CG Lighting and Compositing and I enjoy a lot to wander in the city, camera in hand.
Website: allansb.com
Justin Scott
Hey, I'm Justin. I've spent the majority of my life exploring photography in different formats and mediums, but spend most of my time with a film camera in hand. While I enjoy shooting just about anything and everything, I'm most drawn to empty constructed environments.
Instagram: @illcatchup
Website: JustinScott.ca"
Horst Siegler
Teacher, VB/BB coach, carpenter, photographer, financial advisor, author, life coach, ski instructor, curmudgeon.
Alexandra Skodyn
Alex is a photographer, software developer and dog mom who lives in Vancouver, BC. She loves street photography because it encourages her to get out of the house, take long walks and capture interesting moments. Her favourite street photographers include Elliott Erwitt, Vivian Maier and Fred Herzog.
IG: kanga.street
Daniel Sneep
Daniel has been photographing for almost 20 years, at home in Vancouver and abroad, and took to the streets in earnest about five years ago. He is drawn to the geometry, colour, and dynamism of urban settings, and is interested in documenting human connection, or lack thereof, in the context of the built environment. His influences include Harry Gruyaert, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Stephen Shore, and Greg Girard.
Briden Spence
Hello, I'm Briden. Vancouver Island born and raised I fell in love with photography the moment I got my first cellphone in 2007. It may have been a flip phone, and the photos were terrible. It didn't dampen my passion. Since then, my gear has improved and my love for photography has grown. It exploded in 2020 when I bought my first DSLR and started to photograph portraits for friends and family. Now you can regularly find me wandering the streets of my Nanaimo photographing the beauty in the everyday.
Barbara Strigel
Barbara Strigel is a retired high school art teacher currently working on combining photography and collage. Her images begin on the street with a gesture or an architectural space, then they are reconfigured digitally with scans of torn paper collage and printmaking experiments.
"Collage allows me to pull the gesture out of the photograph's context of time and space. It introduces ambiguity and expands narrative possibility. By abstracting elements of the original photograph, place becomes more idea than geography, people become figures rather than individuals. The collaged photograph is at once familiar and unexpected."
She has been featured in the emerging artist drawers at the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, recognized in the top 50 of Photo Lucida's Critical Mass and awarded an honorable mention in the Klompching Gallery Brooklyn's FRESH competition. She shows regularly with Art Rental Sales at the Vancouver Art Gallery. For more information, see her website at www.barbarastrigel.com
Justin Trueman
The unpredictability of film photography is compounded; first with the uncertainty of the subject that appears in your viewfinder, and secondly the surprise of the resulting negative. This is lent well to street photography, combining situation and intention for the capturer to generate an imperfect and honest image. Justin develops his skill of street photography through film for this reason. Justin is a Nova Scotian transplanted to Vancouver in late 2020 to explore (and capture) the beauty of the city.
Angela Walsh
Born and raised in Vancouver, Angela is an amateur photographer whose enduring passion for photography originated in the darkroom of her highschool photography class. She primarily shoots on 35mm (her first love) but also works with digital mediums. She is drawn to photography for the way it opens up new ways of seeing the world, and strives to capture evocative images that prompt curiosity and reflection. She is influenced by the photographic works of Sarah van Rij, Fred Herzog, and Lee Friedlander, and also draws inspiration from painting and cinema.
Sharon Wish
Sharon is a self-taught photographer from Vancouver, Canada. Her work has been published in Archive Vancouver Magazine, Spiritus Journal, Photo Blur Fine Art Photography Magazine as well as on European book covers. She exhibited at Photo Haus Vancouver, and The Grind Cafe and Gallery.
Sharon became involved in photography as a teenager and was immediately intrigued by the world of black and white. Drawn to shapes, shadows and silhouetted people, she naturally gravitated toward street photography, looking for a lone person with that touch of mystery and dreamlike quality.
Currently, Sharon is shooting mostly digital images, but picks up her film camera when the mood strikes her.
“I like that element of mystery in my photographs: someone on the street coming out of the shadows, or someone emerging out of the fog on those moody days. It’s more about the gesture of the person than face. When I’m out there I strive to make my images not just something visual, but something felt.”
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluechameleon/
Website: www.sharonwish.com
Jake Wong
Jake, born in Vancouver, raised in Eastvan's Strathcona neighborhood, is a street photographer who is always on the look to capture that dynamic picture moment. wrwong@gmail.com
Mike Wong
Mike is from East Van and became interested in photography while backpacking overseas. He was attracted to film photography after his instructor gifted a Nikon F2 to him. Mike is a fan of Fred Herzog, Vivian Maier and William Eggleston. He enjoys shooting reflections, geometry and urban decay.