Collective Encounters

A Vancouver Street Photography Collective (VanSPC) Exhibition.

The Gallery George (1502 East Hastings Street, Vancouver)

September 21 - October 2, 2022

Opening Reception Friday September 23, 6pm - 10pm / free and open to the public / prints for sale / cash bar

Street Encounters Photo Walk, Oct 2nd 3 pm at the Gallery George

Join Us on Sunday October 2nd at 3pm at The Gallery George for Street Encounters: a street photography walk hosted by VanSPC. Join members of VanSPC on a photo walk in East Vancouver. We'll meet at the Gallery George where we are currently exhibiting our members' street photographs. After a brief introduction to VanSPC and our images, we will take to the streets, exploring the environment through our camera lenses. We will encourage participants to take a series of classic street photography images that we will post on our website. This event is free and open to the public.

Please register using this Eventbrite link

Exhibition Statement

It’s raining again in Vancouver and a photographer walks through a motel parking lot. The city is a blur of fog and neon and a man steps out of his room to stand on the balcony. When he reaches for his phone, the photographer lifts up their camera, quickly composes, and clicks the shutter release.

Street photography is a split-second response, a recognition and an affirmation. The world is an interesting place, people are interesting, even the light falling on the walls of an alley can be interesting. To photograph is to risk being overwhelmed with potential subjects.

“There is one thing a photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment,” photographer Robert Frank observed.” This kind of photography is realism, but realism is not enough - there has to be vision and the two together can make a good photograph.” This quote, informed by the idea that street photography is an exploration of our shared humanity, shapes the theme for this year’s exhibition, our third since the formation of the collective in late 2018.

VanSPC currently numbers more than 65 photographers, united by our interest in explorations and discoveries through the lens of our cameras. We are a diverse and dedicated group, with a myriad of life experiences that we bring to our perception of the city. That’s what makes our collective vision so exciting! We welcome you to this exhibition and hope you’ll enjoy what you see.

We are VanSPC.

The Vancouver Street Photography Collective (VanSPC) is a non-profit society bringing together photographers from Vancouver and beyond to create and share diverse street photography approaches and aesthetics. We are founded on the principles of exploration, engagement, and inclusion. We strive to offer a welcoming space to learn about, practise and display street photography through meetups, exhibitions, publications and simply walking the streets to discover new moments of inspiration.

Photographer Biographies

Ariela Badenas

Ariela Badenas is a photographer based in the unceded land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations (also known as Vancouver, BC, Canada). She was born and raised in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Her art practice is heavily based on the tradition of film photography.

Sue Yeong Baek

Sue Yeong Baek is a local street photographer and filmmaker who finds humanity fascinating and beautiful. As stories unfold around her in this era of great change, she loves to observe and interact with the world through her photography.

Adam Brown

I am a photographer from the U.K. Enjoy all sorts of photography but there is something special about street photography, capturing that perfect moment.

Cory Bujnowicz

Cory Bujnowicz is a Vancouver artist specializing in photography and digital experiences.

Ram Das Diwakaran

Electronics/Software Engineer by profession, exploring my passion for photography especially in wildlife, astro and street.

Francis Karl dela Peña

From Cagayan de Oro, to Dubai and now in Vancouver, Francis Karl dela Peña likes to take his camera out on the street to capture vibrant everyday moments. Recently, some of his works have been featured in the 24Hour Project photo exhibition in Finland, and others have appeared in CNN Arabic website, 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.

Rolf Erni

Since I was a teenager, photography has always fascinated me. There is a moment of chance, a certain unpredictability with every picture taken. I bring together my background in typography and the graphic arts with an ongoing curiosity about cities and their inhabitants. My work has been shown at various exhibitions in Canada and the USA.

Doris Fiedrich

In her street photography, Doris Fiedrich aims for the unexpected moments that disappear almost as quickly as she can raise her camera. Her intent lies in recording people’s unselfconscious behaviours and gestures. An observant eye and many years of experience as a portrait and event photographer have sharpened her artistry; on the streets, she reacts swiftly and instinctively. Doris slows down for her botanical photography and her creative, mixed-media projects. Her work has been published in print and online and has been shown in many locales in Vancouver.

Allan Florendo

Allan has been photographing the streets for more than a decade having spent so many years in Asia. His style is combining human element with interesting elements in the surroundings.

Kathryn Ford

Kathryn Ford views herself as a bit of a visual magpie, photographing whatever gets her attention, from humans in the city to birds and plants in the wild. She posts to Instagram and VERO as katymight.

Nathan Griffiths

Visual/data journalist. Aspiring street photographer. Explorer of analog collage & editorial illustration.

Lily Hawrysh

East Vancouver born and raised, my Vancouver was the city Fred Herzog documented in his photographs. As a child of the late 50s and 60s, I experienced the same streets and neighbourhoods.Change is inevitable, if sometimes difficult to embrace. t’s no wonder that I view contemporary Vancouver with a nostalgic eye.

Jody Hill

Jody is a photographer from Vancouver, Canada. Having a background in film and video, he started to pursue photography passionately in 2010. 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.

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.

Carol How

Carol is a fine art photographer based in Vancouver, BC Canada. Her work mainly explores themes of abstraction, architecture, people, urban cityscapes and environmental subjects.Carol enjoys using symbolism and geometry, combined with light, line and texture in her work to draw the viewer into her images, and hopefully, to enjoy and explore. The City of Surrey has purchased a body of 8 of her environmental images for a permanent travelling exhibit. Carol is represented by The Commotion Online Gallery https://thecommotion.ca/ where she recently was pleased to display a curated solo show of her abstract architectural images titled "Towering".

Stephen Huen

Photography gives me a different way of connecting with people. It shows them how I see the world.

Chelsea Ker

Chelsea Ker is a born and raised Vancouverite whose street photography style could best be described as "observations in the ordinary". She shoots primarily in digital and works professionally as a Storyboard Director in the animation field.

Reimar Koch

Vancouver based photographer whose technique could be described as piscatorial. Detail and story are the goal.

Adam Koebel

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.

Ivan Lee

Ivan is a street photographer based in Vancouver, BC with an aim to capture quiet moments of everyday life in this vibrant city and sharing his unique perspective. He has been practicing street photography since 2019 and is drawn to how light and shadow plays with the unique geometry and architecture in the cityscape.

Ania Luczak

Polish photographer, member of ISPG and VAN_SPC, forever inspired by Robert Cappa, Diane Arbus and Vivian Maier. Obsesed with all things Vintage.

Robert G. Lyons

Robert G. Lyons is an international award winning filmmaker and photographer from Vancouver, BC. Rob captures a wide variety of subject matter both professionally and personally but prefers to make most of his images at night and preferably in the rain.

Vadim Marmer

I have been taking street photos for about 20 years. I search for moments with emotions and meanings and try to give them a nice frame.

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 Mosquin is a Burnaby-based photographer. By genre, his work ranges from street to nature, from portraiture to landscape. The threads that weave together these genres are a persistent sense of wonder, an ongoing search for the beauty of the moment, and a dedication to craft.

Liza Navarro

I'm originally from the big, busy and bustling streets of Houston, Texas. I am a proud woman of color whose family roots stem from Puerto Rico. Growing up in Houston exposed me to a diverse way of life full of culture, love and respect for one another. Now I am based in Vancouver, British Columbia. I am a doctoral candidate in language and literacy education, researching French language learning and culture. When I'm not shaping the minds of future teachers in B.C., teaching French or working on my research, I am out and about with my camera exploring the city of Vancouver and making connections with people.
I strongly believe that all we have in life are moments. Moments that bring us together, moments that remind us why we are here, moments that question our preconceived notions about the world and moments that put things into perspective. These moments can last a second, an hour, a lifetime, and in order to remember them all, I take pictures.

Luke Potter

Luke specialises in commercial, architectural, and interior design photography and is striving to produce creative and well executed work for local and national clients. 'As photographer's we see the world through a critical, subtle and often appreciative eye. Urban or street photography has always played a crucial role in my journey as a photographer and I love the endless intriguing moments that can be conjured and created through time spent amongst people on the streets of our cities."

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. An accomplished artist working with technology and digital media, Jay’s work has shown in galleries around the world and is internationally collected.

Max Richter

I like to document the matter-of-fact, unglamorous elements that make a city sustainable. My photos document my explorations in the world using the camera on my phone.

Jae Ryan

Jae Ryan is a Vancouver based photographer obsessed with meeting everyone around him and capturing those moments on film.

Craig Sheppard

Craig Sheppard is a British/Canadian VFX Editor and Photographer

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.

Briden Spence

Briden is Vancouver Island born and raised. You can regularly find him wandering the streets of Nanaimo photographing the beauty in the everyday.

Barbara Strigel

Barbara Strigel is a photographer, collage artist and bookmaker living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia. For over 20 years she taught photography, pottery and graphic design in a public high school in Seattle. Her practice combines street photography and collage to explore separation and connection in urban space. Selected work can be viewed on her website at www.barbarastrigel or locally through the Rental Sales division of Vancouver Art Gallery.

Justin D. Trueman

Justin D. Trueman is a Vancouver-based photographer interested in exposing the overlooked moments of the every day. Justin has learned through trial and error, dedication, and absorbing knowledge - technical or otherwise - from fellow community members.

Stuart Weir

Stuart Weir is an accomplished Software Developer who spends his free time exploring with an all mechanical camera capturing moments on film.

Sharon Wish

Sharon was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and has been photographing this city for many years. She is drawn to its shapes, shadows and silhouettes as well as the moody backdrop Vancouver has to offer. She likes to feel all that is around her, then capturing that moment; making the photograph more than just something visual, but also something felt.

Jake Wong

Jake Wong was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Jake's photos capture the social and individual interactions of people on the street. His photographs capture moments that beckon the viewer to imagine the story behind the photo.

Sergine Zougbédé

I am a French photographer based in Vancouver. I try capturing (mostly with my phone) pieces of life, atmospheres, feelings and emotions conveyed by people, but also by places or everyday life objects. I am drawn to colour photography and I am influenced by lines, architecture and minimalism.