From Shadows to Hope

Vancouver, October 9, 2008 - Laughter, tears and a fair amount of catcalling took place at last week's Hope in Shadows ceremony as Downtown Eastside residents eagerly awaited the results from this year's photography contest.

The mood was one of nervous excitement as contestants, along with their families and friends, filled the seats and lined the walls of the Carnegie Centre, happily waving and calling out to one another as the top 40 photographs submitted by over 200 Downtown Eastsiders were announced.

After nearly two hours of rowdy anticipation, the winning photograph was finally called. Valerie Fielding's ‘Big Brother, Little Brother' perfectly captured this year's theme, ‘What I value in my community.' But to the crowd's dismay, Valerie was nowhere to be seen.

"She's sick at home with a leg infection," her neighbour yelled out from the crowd. He then promptly jumped on stage and offered up an animated and excited acceptance speech on her behalf. "I'm quite overcome with disbelief," said a smiling Fielding, having just heard the good news. Fielding looked exhausted but thrilled as she sat in her wheelchair at the Princess Rooms, holding a giant stuffed bunny.

"I've been having a real struggle lately because I cleaned up last year from dope," she said. "It's just so nice to have some good news, so nice to have won something!"

Fielding, who only submitted six photographs, was astonished when she was told her photo had won first prize. "My friend knocked on my door and said, ‘Which place do you think you've won?' and I said, "Third prize maybe' and then, when he passed me the paper, it said first prize!"

Fieldings's excitement was contagious and other residents at the Princess Rooms kept filing in, congratulating her on the big win. Fielding said it was the child in the photo who inspired her.

"I was walking past VANDU and saw this man standing with a child. It was the child that struck me and I knew right away that I should take a picture." Robert Bonner, the ‘Big Brother' in the photo, was meeting with the Carnegie Community Action Project at VANDU when Fielding approached him.

"[The boy in the photo] attends our meetings with his mom and one day I took him outside while I was having a cigarette," he said. "Valerie just walked up and asked to take our picture. It's such an honour to be in the photo because it's the people in the community that pick the winner."

This year, 4,000 photos were whittled down to 40 winners, 13 of them gracing the pages of 2009 Hope in Shadows calendar. The calendar is then sold on the streets of Vancouver by low-income vendors. The winning photograph appears on the cover of the calendar and the photographer receives $500 in prize money.

When asked what she plans to do with her $500 in prize money Fielding said, "I'm going to take the little guy [in the photo] and the little guy's mom out for Chinese food and help my mom buy new batteries for her electric wheelchair."

By Amy Juschka. This article originally appeared in Megaphone, Vancouver's Street Newspaper.