Photographers hailed as "human rights ambassadors"
2010 Hope in Shadows calendar launched
Vancouver, October 13, 2009. "You should be proud in your part as human rights ambassadors," Pivot Legal Society executive director John Richardson said to the photographers at the seventh annual Hope in Shadows Award ceremony and calendar launch this morning.
Richardson explained how he recently helped a homeless man who was being harrassed by a security guard in Chinatown. He observed a change in the attitude of the police who attended the incident and said that the Hope in Shadows calendar was part of the change in attitude in not only the police but the wider Vancouver public that might not have occured before six years ago. "Hope in Shadows has helped to open peoples minds to the community living in the Downtown Eastside." He said the calendar was full of positive photographs and stories of Downtown Eastside residents and that over time hundreds of thousands of people had seen them and this has made a huge impact in perceptions.
The Heart of my Community
With the click of a lens, Steven Mayes has captured this year’s theme with the winning smiling faces, winning the top prize and the cover of the 2010 Hope in Shadows calendar today.
Images of hope, friendship, joy and laughter feature strongly in the 2010 Hope in Shadows calendar unveiled at Carnegie Community Centre this morning at the annual award ceremony for the Downtown Eastside photography contest.
The 2010 Hope in Shadows - Portraits of the Downtown Eastside calendar will be sold on the streets of Vancouver by homeless and low-income people. Sixteen thousand calendars have been printed this year and street vendors hope to sell out before January. Vendors earn $10 for every $20 calendar sold. Last year, through their hard work vendors had personal earnings of approximately $130,000.
The calendar features award-winning images from the Hope in Shadows photography contest. In June, 218 cameras were distributed to Downtown Eastside residents. More than 4,000 images were entered. Winning photographs were selected by a panel of professional photographers and artists and the contest ranking was determined by a community vote, which happened over a week on the street outside Carnegie Centre.
The theme of this year's contest was the “heart of my community." Images of friends and family, community gardens, moments of solitude and people at play show a lesser seen side of the community.
“While the photos, and stories that describe them, are positive portrayals of the people who live in the community, the project also creates accessible employment opportunities for local residents," says Hope in Shadows Director Paul Ryan. "Over 200 people will participate in the Street Vendor Program this year. Many of them are homeless and all of them subsist on very low incomes. This opportunity will have a positive impact on the lives of many."
The Hope in Shadows exhibition hangs at the Pendulum Gallery (885 West Georgia Street) from October 13-24.
