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Monday, June 29th | English Bay, Vancouver, BC |
All in all, not a bad bachelor party.
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Saturday, June 27th | Vancouver, British Columbia |
Bryan Sereda featured in this month's edition of Vancouver Magazine (full article available here or in print). I met Bryan about this time last year and spent some time with him on his boat, watching various nautical incarnations of the Vancouver Police Department weave amongst the few live-aboards remaining in False Creek, checking for permits. For the most part, Bryan was left alone: his well-kempt houseboat has been an almost-permanent fixture in the creek for the all the years that I have been watching the water, and the officious black Zodiacs seemed to treat it more like an island than an invader. Bryan was finally evicted, however, about 8 months before this photograph was taken. He spent most of the winter at anchor in the unprotected, shallow bays off Kitsilano Beach until the offer of work and friendly weather took him up the Fraser. It was here that I met up with him in March at the Delta boatyard where he was building docks, floating in the turbid river miles away from anywhere, waiting for his day in court and biding his time until he could return to the Creek.
He has since completed his journey out of the heart of darkness and back into False Creek, and when our paths crossed on the water yesterday he seemed to be doing very well. The cops are leaving hime alone, his 'anchoring without a permit' charges were stayed (although he was looking forward to arguing that the new moorage restrictions and subsequent evictions contradict boater's constitutional rights), and when I met up with him he was on his way to Granville Island to pick up some red snapper for dinner.
The article was written by Vancouver Magazine's talented intern Todd Parker, and I encourage you not to just look at the pictures.
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Also, last week I travelled to Victoria to photograph the Dockside Green development for Sustainable Building and Architecture magazine. Quite a remarkable achievement - from the Dockside Green website:
A model for holistic, closed-loop design, Dockside Green will function as a total environmental system in which form, structure, materials, mechanical and electrical systems will be interrelated and interdependent - a largely self-sufficient, sustainable community where waste from one area will provide fuel for another. Here you will find a dynamic environment where residents, employees, neighbouring businesses and the broader community will interact in a healthy and safe environment, reclaimed from disuse and contamination.
As a LEED® Platinum targeted project, Dockside Green's principles of New Urbanism, smart growth, green building and sustainable community design are all essential elements of our development plan. We understand the economics of the triple bottom line approach and we have the experience, vision and drive to deliver on it.
While in Victoria I also visited Richmond Gate, another community development, for architect Franc D'Ambrosio:
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Saturday, May 30th | On the Fraser River near Deroche, British Columbia |
I woke at 4am on Saturday and drove quietly out through the Fraser Valley, past Mission to the town of Deroche, where the In-SHUCK-ch Nation has its head office. I had been invited by Shawn Gabriel, one of my laisons with the Nation's Provisional Government, to join his uncle Gary and friend Lawrence of the Stó:lō Nation on one of their regular weekend fishing trips on the Fraser River. We launched the flat-bottomed skiff into the silty river at 7am as the sun was rising above the Cascade Mountains, and at first things were looking good: our first cast of the drift net landed Lawrence a 15lb Spring Salmon. Another 5 hours of fishing yielded nothing more than weeds and "firewood".
"This seems to be the way it is now", said Lawrence, "Last week we caught 2."
This trip marks the beginning of a project I hope to continue, documenting the commercial and aboriginal Salmon fisheries in British Columbia. |
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Thursday, May 7th | Toronto, Ontario |
It's been a hectic week, and a successfull one, and I am mere minutes away from finishing the installation of Salt & Earth at the Ryerson Gallery. I am deeply indebted to a number of Torontonians, one recent Vancouver convert, and two parents for their support in preparing for my first solo exhibition - I think it's going to be a great show, and if you happen to be in Toronto between May 8th and June 6th, you can see it at the Ryerson Gallery, 80 Spadina, Suite #305, Wednesday to Saturday from noon til 5pm. Swing by the opening reception, May 8th from 6-9pm, for good beer and great company.
Also, a little bit of positive press on Toronto Life's website this week:
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Friday, April 17th | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
I've been on the road with Said The Whale for the last couple of days, documenting their week long tour out to Saskatoon and back in support of Vancouver's Mother Mother. Last time I was on the road with Said The Whale, the band's only Saskatchewan gig was cancelled and we bypassed this part of the prairies in the middle of the night. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be able to see it now, and to be able to share a van with such talented and amiable dudes. More photos of our trip so far can be seen here.
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Friday, March 20th | Vancouver, British Columbia |
The English version of the 'This Day of Change' website is now online at www.courrier.jp/120. My photographs from the community of Skatin on the Skookumchuck Indian Reserve can be found in the top row, third from the left.
Also.. apparently one of my photos of Said The Whale from Ogre Studios can be found on page 19 of this week's Best Buy flyer. The band is playing on Granville St on Thursday, March 26th as part of JunoFest.
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Monday, March 16th | Deroche, British Columbia |
I was on hand to witness a small protest outside the In-SHUCK-ch band office in Deroche, BC, having been invited to the community to document the signing of a bilateral agreement between the Province of British Columbia and the In-SHUCK-ch Nation. The Chehalis band, whose home lies along the Harrison River between Mission and Agassiz, have claim to the section of land known as St'epsum, the site of an ancient Chehalis village - a piece of overlapping In-SHUCK-ch traditional territory included in treaty negotions with the provincial government. I find it interesting that while a potential treaty represents a huge step towards reconciliation and inclusion for one community, it is bound to create conflict and alienation in others, and that despite Canada's best efforts at repairing the damage done by an historic 'Divide and Conquer' policy, it seems the divisions may remain long after a conquest has been forgiven.
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Friday, February 20th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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I received an anonymous email today quietly urging me to post some new updates here (so maybe it was more hilarious than anonymous.. it was much appreciated nevertheless). There actually are quite a few news items to be shared, some visual, some not, but I shall begin with the most colourful.
A few days ago I spent some time at Ogre Studios in Vancouver with Said The Whale, photographing a process I hadn't witnessed before as the band worked through the early stages of recording a new album. It is a very serious (read: tedious) process, but we did manage to find some time to goof off a little. Among the highlights: Roy Smeck and a leather jacket that was far too small, the sultry subdued tones of Renee Claude, Cafe a la Spencer, the biggest tuner I have ever seen, and the lovely Jaycelyn Brown (the talent behind the keys as well as the photograph at the bottom right).
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Later that day I met up with Dan Mangan, who is a just few steps ahead of Said The Whale in the 'new album' process. Dan also has a new website, as well as a few gigs coming up soon, and I encourage everyone to check him out. Thanks to my dad for putting up with the two of us in very close quarters for well over an hour as we crammed the hallway with lighting gear...
And the news that you can't look at: A week or so ago I was informed that the folks who behind the Contact Photo
Festival have decided to feature my exhibition as one of 20 to watch during the month of May. This means great publicity for the show, with a page dedicated to Salt & Earth in their Festival Guide, and, assuming the sponsors haven't changed since last year, lots of Grolsch to hand out at the reception on May 8th.
Also, a while back I was invited by Kodansha Ltd, a Japanese publisher, to participate in a book project called "This Day of Change". 100 photographers from around the world were asked to contribute photographs taken on January 20th, 2009 - the day of President Barack Obama's inauguration - inspired by themes of hope and change. I spent the day in the community of Skatin, photographing members of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation. A preview of the book, due out in April, can be seen here
(my images can be found by clicking the thumbnail second from the left at the top).
And also... last week had the opportunity to speak about my recent work with the In-SHUCK-ch for the Arts & Culture section of RompostTV, a Romanian television program here in Vancouver. I'm not sure how much of it will be broadcast in English, but the interview will air on Saturday, February 21st, on Omni Cable 8 between 1 and 2pm in Vancouver, and on Sunday between 10 and 11am. I believe it can be found on Bell ExpressView Channel 254 elsewhere in Canada.
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I returned from an amazing week in Sayulita, Mexico (photos comming soon) to find a nice little writeup of Salt & Earth in this month's issue of Applied Arts Magazine... click the image for a bigger version. Off to the community of Skatin tomorrow to be part of something very special on the 20th.
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Sunday, December 15th | Skatin (Skookumchuck), British Columbia
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About a month ago I met with the three Chiefs of the Douglas, Skatin, and Samahquam First Nations (the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, collectively) near Mission, BC, to discuss the possibility of producing a documentary on their communities. The In-SHUCK-ch
are in the late stages of negotiating a treaty with the provincial government that give them ownership of their traditional territories, stretching from Mission to Pemberton along the shores of Harrison Lake and the banks of the Lilooet River, as well as create improvements in housing and infrastructure in the Nation's many isolated communities.
The intention is to
visit the communities often, before and after the ratification of the treaty, to witness these improvements and document the changes made over time in the lives of the people.
This weekend I made my first visit to the communties, bussing from Vancouver to Pemberton before being driven down the single-lane dirt logging road connecting the communities of the Lilooet River Valley with the Mount Currie Reserve. On Saturday morning I was invited to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony, a first for me and a great priviledge, and on Sunday I attended an Elders Gathering in the community of Skatin, where I was treated to an early Christmas dinner and the stories of Morgan Wells, told in Ucwaimícwts, the language of the Lilooet people. More to come soon.
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Sunday, November 23rd | Victoria, British Columbia
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Goldstream Park, it's the perfect place for young lover's walks
and it's ok to be curious about where the salmon die
it's ok
it's ok to be alone
it's ok to be alone
and when i see that spinning heart think of all the blood that's shed
over battles great and small
when all the salmon want is to get upstream
-Aidan Knight, Northern Salmon Keep it Real
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Sunday, September 28th | Somewhere over the Prairies
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I just landed in Toronto and am preparing to head to Whole Village to continue some work on Salt & Earth. Back on the West Coast on Monday, October 6th.
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Thursday, September 25th | Off Bowen Island in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia
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A swath of phosphorescence, agitated by the boat's twin propellers, trails behind the Mustang in the Strait of Georgia.
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Saturday, September 20th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Looking through last weekend's photos on a rainy Saturday.
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Friday, September 19th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Today I explored Kerrisdale with Dan Mangan, a charming man and an incredibly talented musician, and it was wonderful getting to know him, and my own neighborhood, better. He beat me soundly at foosball and thankfully did not partake of a $15 shave.
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Sunday, September 18th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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More work for Forestry Innovation Investment: Gluelam beams in the roof of the new Trout Lake Ice Arena.
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Sunday, September 14th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Said The Whale on the banks of the English Bay.
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Friday, September 5th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Some work for Forestry Innovation Investment, a government agency that supports the forest sector by documenting BC’s environmentally progressive forest management, promoting product development and fostering international markets. Above, wood detail of the Olympic expansion to the existing Vancouver Convention Center. The Center's green roof, below.
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Friday, August 29th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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It’s a small world. Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with Daniel Dixon, who’s boat, the Samsara, is the boat that began my obsession with boats a few years ago. I first saw his 32’ Atkin Eric at Shelter Island Marina in Richmond while I was working for False Creek Tugboats, hoisted from the water and looking likely to be forgotten in the sad and dignified posture adopted by many boats at Shelter Island. At the time she was owned by a friend of our mutual employer (although our paths never crossed, Daniel was also a deckhand with False Creek Tugs), and a year and a half later Daniel saved her from a watery grave on Bowen Island. He bought her for next to nothing and for the last 6 months has been, as he puts it, “living off the grid in this sailing pirate life”. We met up in False Creek, where he spends the maximum allowable time at anchor before literally going where the wind takes him, and I was fortunate enough to witness his flag-dousing ritual as he prepared Samsara for departure on Sunday.
I was less than elated to learn that the Tau Gallery closed it's doors earlier this month, so I no longer have a Vancouver venue for an exhibition of 'Salt & Earth'. I shall renew my search for a gallery to show it, however, and will share any dates when I have them.
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Tuesday, August 26th | Point Roberts, Washington
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Low-level owl and summer rain.
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Monday, August 25th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Tying up at the Ocean Cement plant near Granville Island in False Creek.
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Wednesday, August 20th | Sechelt, British Columbia
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Sorting lines while waiting on a load of gravel at the Sechelt loading bay. Below, a variation on an old standby.
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Monday, August 18th | Lake Cowichan, British Columbia
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Driving the logging roads through Carmanah Wahlbran Provincial Park, a long sought-after source of old-growth lumber on Vancouver Island (below)
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Tuesday, August 11th | Harrison Lake, British Columbia
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Photos from a rainy weekend sojourn.
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Friday, August 8th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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Bryan on his houseboat, K'mon Iwanna Lei-ya, in False Creek. A former iron worker and a creek live-aboard for the past 11 years, he says his Worker's Compensation Board pension of $530 a month leaves him with no other realistic housing option than to live on the boat he has owned outright for almost two decades.
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Thursday, July 17th | Vancouver, British Columbia
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False Creek dragon boat team 'Eye of the Dragon' cruises past the new 2010 Winter Olympic Athlete's Village (above) during a Thursday evening practice. Earlier in the month, the city advised paddlers to avoid the Creek entirely, as malfunctioning sewers near several construction sites had led to a drastic increase in fecal coliform contamination in the Creek's East Basin (read more in the Vancouver Sun here).
Eye of the Dragon, fifty percent of whose memebers are either blind or visually impaired, placed seventh in its division at this year's Alcan Dragon Boat Festival. My father, a member (below), rests after a heavy set.
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Tuesday, July 15th | Off Gabriola Isand in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia |
Crossing the Georgia Strait South-West from Vancouver to Nanaimo, a distance of about 38 nautical miles, motoring against the wind, fretting about dwindling fuel and light.
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Tuesday, July 4th | Vancouver, British Columbia |
Delivering letters of introduction to the False Creek live-aboards (photo courtesy of Christine McAvoy). A few years ago there were twenty or thirty "squatter boats" in False Creek between Science World and the Granville Street Bridge, occupying at no cost space within site of waterfront condos and a handful of upscale downtown marinas, and conveniently out of the jurisdiction of both the Canadian Coast Guard and the Vancovuer Police. In the last year, presumably in preparation for the 2010 Olympics, the City of Vancouver has successfully changed the mooring restrictions in False Creek, effectively evicting the False Creek live-aboards while maintaining the facade of a free port. I am in the very early stages of a documentary on the few live-aboards that remain, as they attempt to, as one put it, "continue living off-the-grid in this sailing, pirate life."
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Tuesday, July 4th | Sechelt, British Columbia |
Sky over the depot on another Sechelt run. I've been working as a deckhand for False Creek Tugboats, Ltd., a company operating from the fish dock near Granville Island Public Market. The company delivers barges of aggregate from the quarry near the town of Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast to the Ocean Cement plant at the entrance to False Creek in Vancouver. By car, the trip takes about an hour and a half; by boat, with a loaded gravel barge, the trip is closer to 6 hours, depending on wind and tide. The depot's gravel loader takes the shape of some prehistoric reptile wading in the bay, spitting sand as its massive tail rattles through the Shishalh First Nation reserve and disappears over the hill.
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Tuesday, July 1st | Vancouver, British Columbia |
Canada day. Apologies for being MIA for a while. Last week I was in Toronto photographing a couple of weddings with a fun little side project Christine McAvoy and I have been doing together for a while, entitled Bonnie & Clyde Wedding Shooters, and having far too good a time with friends and family. Rest assured, I am now back on the West Coast, preparing to sink my teeth (and a couple of oars) into the first of a series of Vancouver projects. More on that to come.
A few exhibition-related updates: I have a small solo exhibition of 'Salt & Earth' opening at Tau Gallery (590 W. Broadway, Vancouver) at the beginning of August, official date TBA, and there is a chance that the same body of work will be on display at Pikto Studios in Toronto's Distillery District early in the new year. Also, the Ryerson Gallery has just released its 2008/2009 exhibition schedule, and they have given me the slot coinciding with next year's Contact Photography Festival for my exhibition of Salt & Earth. More information when it comes my way.
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Friday, May 16th| Sechelt, British Columbia |
False Creek Tugboats waiting on Evco 2.
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Sunday, May 11th | Toronto, Ontario |
Just winding down after an exhausting and inspiring week at the Magnum Workshop. Not much more to say, other than it was an amazing experience, hitting the streets and listening to a photographer I greatly admire share a little of his philosophy and experience. The exhibition of student work from the masterclass runs until June 10th at the Contact Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave, Ste 310, and if you happen to check it out after May 15th, be sure to stop by the Ryerson Gallery across the hall to see Dominic Nahr's exhibition of work from the Gaza Strip, entitled 'When Brothers Fight'.
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Saturday, May 3rd | Port Colborne, Ontario |
McAvoys on the shores of Lake Erie.
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All content © Jonathan Taggart, 2008.
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