I have, previously, made reference to my association with the Vancouver Street Photography Collective (VANSPC). Since my introduction and subsequent membership over the last two-plus years, I have been challenged by this genre in photography. I very much enjoy making images of landscapes, architecture and creating travel journals using photography… but, “Street” requires more than a visual eye for composition and camera smarts. It also entails a level of sensitivity to boundaries: both the photographers and image subjects.

I am pleased with the growth that has occurred in all areas of my street photography. Initially shy and reticent, I have become bolder, more aware of what my eyes and camera lens “see” and my appreciation of the genre has expanded – due almost entirely to the skill set and generosity of other VANSPC members

Each month, an individual member is featured and the month of February has been bestowed upon me by the Collective’s moderators with a blurb on the website and social media platforms; Instagram and the like. You can view that piece at https://van-spc.com and glean more about the organization, events and other members.

I submitted the following images:

I made this image on that first introductory day to VANSPC in October, 2022 at Gallery George (Hastings Street, Vancouver) during a photowalk in groups led by VANSPC members. After some initial images along Commercial Drive, our walk took us by this restaurant window where I viewed this resting staff person taking a break from her working day at an unoccupied table. I walked by… maybe 15 or 20 feet… and then returned thinking, “This is it. This is why you are here. Take the shot or go home.”

This is the very first street image that I made where I had to consider and realign the boundaries – my boundaries – of what was acceptable and appropriate. I entitled this image: “OKAY?” and it also became a poem of the same name a few months later.

OKAY?

Please say so much more
Of all those lies so trite
Of how my heart can soar
And all things can be alright
No longer will time hold sway
That all will be just fine
But, is this your idea of okay
Or mine?

© jameshoustonarts 2023

I have to convince myself that an image capture is better in colour than monochrome. I love black & white imagery for its shading, contrast and texture but, also for the way it eliminates the distraction of colour in favour of the context and the story that an image narrates. With this image, the choice of colour was clear.

Taken at a music festival on Vancouver Island, I chose this image for its composition… the red-haired braids catching the sunlight with the similar patterning of the black ribbons of the straw hat, the jacquard white-on-white fabric and, because I am a sucker for symmetry, the triangled frame of the out-of-focus (bokeh) festival tent in the background patterning the woman’s shoulders. Also, it has a certain Lucy Maude Montgomery/Anne of Green Gables sense about it which I find both quaint and endearing.

This last image is entitled, “LUNAR WALK” and was taken in the city of Querétaro, Mexico at about 5:30 in the morning. The full moon is setting and the dawn is just commencing directly behind the camera. A City Sanitation staff worker is heading to work (identifiable by orange coveralls and reflective cuffs). This is in “El Centro,” the historical area of Querétaro, which is adorned with wrought-iron lamps and the streets are all cobbled.

My thanks and appreciation go out to VANSPC for the feature.

James
01/02/25