ABC Jewellery and Loan, Vancouver, British Columbia 2019
All posts filed under Vancouver
Yale Hotel Neon, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
The Yale Hotel is a well known site on Vancouver’s Granville Street. A reminder of the days when neon ruled the downtown commercial districts.
Parking Garage and crescent moon, Bute Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2018
Sometimes walking around you see an image that’s combination of genres. This view along Bute Street in Vancouver’s West End was one of those. The dusk sky with the crescent moon overhead is from a traditional pretty landscape but below is a grittier urban nightscape. I’ve been finding a lot of photos in the West End during recent visits.
Berkeley Place Elevator Shaft, Davie Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2018
Walking to breakfast early on weekend morning we passed the site of what had been, until just days before, an apartment complex in Vancouver’s West End. The elevator shaft, with the somewhat incongruous potted palm tree, at the bottom were the only two things left standing that day. A week later the shaft was gone as well.
Corner Store in Snowstorm, Davie and Thurlow, Vancouver, British Columbia 2018
This was one of those heavy west coast snowstorms that came in, dumped a load, and then it all melted away by the next day. I walked out of the Skytrain Station on Davie Street and there were just light flakes falling, but by the time I reached Thurlow there was snow covering the ground, the falling snow was much heavier and just a few …
Canadian Pacific, Waterfront, Vancouver, British Columbia 2018
Work crew makes their way towards a CP Rail engine and cars in the train yard on the Vancouver waterfront following a snow storm.
Selfie Bus Shelter Poster, Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2018
Late night Vancouver street photography while walking along Granville Street. Photographing an ad for a camera phone and camera phone photography.
Last Gas Station, Davie Street at Burrard Street, Vancouver British Columbia 2017
Another sign of changing times, this Esso on Davie Street at Burrard Street is the last gas station in downtown Vancouver. How long it will exist is another thing. The property went up for sale last spring. Property in Vancouver, especially the core, is just far to valuable for use for something like a gas station. It’s a large footprint on the land and the …
Writer Yasuko Thanh, Victoria, British Columbia 2017
Yasuko Thanh is both an award-winning writer with a short story collection and a novel published (and a new publication on the way) and a musician who performs in a number of bands. I’ve photographed her singing and at a book reading/signing before but this was our first shot at a portrait. Her site is here. A review of her novel in the Globe and …
Drive Through View, 8th and Cambie, Vancouver British Columbia 2017
A view of a fast food drive through from West 8th Avenue at Cambie Street, at buildings facing a back alley and at centre with Canadian flag, Vancouver’s City Hall shows over the roof line of the 9th Avenue shops.
Barclay back alley, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
A Canadian flag hangs in the window of an apartment as seen from a back alley in Vancouver’s West End.
Car Dealer, Clark Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
Waiting at dusk along Clark Drive for the bus to come along. Industrial areas have their own beauty.
CTV Broadcast, Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
Everybody has to work somewhere but it looked odd to see this television reporter, standing on a box on the Robson Street sidewalk waiting to respond to a remote (?) camera for a broadcast, not the traditional cameraman partner. Instead she was paired with a security guard, who was keeping an eye on the passing pedestrians.
Vancouver Public Library Steps, Central Branch, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
I stopped by the Vancouver Public Library’s Central branch, the big one downtown bordered by West Georgia and Robson Streets. Designed by Moshe Safdie and DA Architects, that complex’s colonnaded walls give it a sort of Roman ruin look. I was there to check out some of the early Vancouver photography held by the Special Collections photo section up on the 7th floor. Had an interesting chat …
Cardero Grocery, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
The Cardero Grocery tucked away in Vancouver’s West End is another one of those old corner grocery stores that appears to exist in a time warp. Old painted lettering and old 7-Up logos on the facade. It seems to me the key to the longevity of these old stores is their proximity to a school. It’s not the local residents shopping that pays all the …
Vernon Drive Grocery, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
This small corner store is such a great example of the old school of the neighbourhood grocery in Vancouver. It’s served many generations of neighbours as well children attending Admiral Seymour Elementary School across the street. The Pepsi signs are quite unique too I think, a change from the usual Coke version. The high price of Vancouver real estate has been in the news a …
Property waiting for redevelopment, 1100 block West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
This property, looking pretty rundown at this point, has spectacular views of the Vancouver skyline. It has a unique mainly glass gazebo on the roof (at right). I’m guessing that the little house/entrance leads to either stairs or an elevator although elevators seems to be something only new small residences have. Redevelopment means that the space will hold more residences and they can all enjoy …
New Vancouver Art Gallery site, West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
As an exercise I sometimes try and photograph with an eye to preserving a view that will not exist in the future. The above is one such view. Shot from Cambie Street and looking across Georgia Street to the north. The parking lot seen at the lower right of the image is the future site of the Vancouver Art Gallery. That new building will most …
Olympia Pizza & Pasta, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
I’ve been eating at Olympia Pizza for over 30 years. Sure, there was a 15-20 year gap in visits when I lived in Alberta but now that my son lives in the west end, my old neighbourhood, the family has resumed enjoying their house lasagna during visits. It’s wonderful when you can revisit an old favourite. The exterior could use some updating or at least …
Army & Navy Store, East Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2016
The exterior of Army & Navy store, a long time fixture along East Hasting Street in Vancouver, is looking pretty shabby these days. When I was a kid, and the area was still a commercial hub, my parents would bring us in to the city from our home in the Fraser Valley and the Army & Navy was always a stop for new school clothes, …
BC Almanac and Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver British Columbia
A while back I posted on a 1970’s publication featuring the work of a group of Vancouver photographers called the BC Almanac. That post is here. The publication was unique as it consisted of a series of mini-books/magazines, each one dedicated to one photographer’s work with the whole collection housed in a folder/cover. The one copy I was able to source and look over was …
300 block West Hasting Street, Vancouver, British Columbia 2013
A street view in the 300 block of West Hastings Street on the edge of Vancouver’s downtown east side district.
The Pointed Sticks – Victoria, BC 2015
The Pointed Sticks, came out of the Vancouver punk scene in the late seventies. I photographed them quite often, perhaps only second to DOA, back then. They haven’t played a lot in the intervening years although they have been performing and recording. I last saw them perform at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver in 2009 . This Victoria gig was their first in the island …
Portraits of British Columbia writers
I spent over a decade photographing Canadian writers, a project that resulted in a few exhibitions and two books published by the Banff Centre Press (the second one here). That project petered out after the second book, pushed to the side by the usual reasons, making a living etc. Two years ago I thought I might start creating portraits of writers again but while I did …
Smile Restaurant 400 Block West Pender Street Vancouver British Columbia 2013
Photographer Wendell Phillips introduced me to this cafe when he met me here for breakfast one morning. The cafe’s street sign now reads Smile Diner rather than restaurant.
Wing Sang Building, Vancouver British Columbia
Wing Sang Building, Vancouver BC 2012 Don Denton photograph The Wing Sang building is the oldest in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The Pender Street heritage building was restored and now houses the Rennie Collection, the private art collection of Vancouver real estate mogul Bob Rennie.
BC Almanac – 1970s Vancouver Photography
I finally found a copy of the 1970 publication BC Almanac, a library copy. Quite unique for the time, it consists of 15 booklets printed on newsprint and inserted into a cardboard folder. On the negative side, this copy only has nine of the booklets. On the positive side the booklets by Roy Kiyooka and N. E. Thing Co. (Iain and Ingrid Baxter) are in …
Vancouver Art Gallery FUSE July 2013
Took in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s July FUSE event on July 19, this one produced in conjunction with the Arrival Agency. Lots going all evening on the various floors.
The Ramones and The Avengers in Vancouver
I have a new show of my early Vancouver punk photos opening at the Talk Is Cheap Gallery on Pandora Street in Victoria this coming Saturday. I’ve been sorting through my negs yet again and had a couple news ones scanned. It’s interesting what I keep finding. I came across this group shot of the Ramones posing for me before their gig at the Commodore. …
Vancouver skyline at dusk, Vancouver, British Columbia
Quite a few trips on BC Ferries across the Strait to Vancouver recently but never have quite enough time there, even on the rainy days. A wet evening view at a constantly changing skyline.