A Volunteer's Perspective

Everyone in the Downtown Eastside knows about Hope in Shadows. "Are you here for the photo contest?" "Is it camera time again?" "Hey it's Pivot, you know the calendars?" women at VANDU call out as we arrive to hand out cameras on day one of the Hope in Shadows photography contest.

They recognize our black t-shirts with "Pivot - equality lifts everyone" written across the front. All the volunteers and interns are wearing them today, at InterUrban Gallery and VANDU, the Women's Centre and Oppenheimer Park, signing up people from the community and giving them each a disposable camera and a few tips on shooting in black and white.

The theme this year is a popular one, "the heart of the community," and everyone seems to have their own idea of what it could mean. Voices start to rise as the contestants share ideas of what the heart of THEIR community is: people you see everyday, crab park, kids at Oppenheimer, Carnegie steps on a sunny day, the view from a hotel room high above Hastings Street, your friends and family.

Some people are eager and ready to go, already set on what they will photograph, who and where, while others are unsure, waiting to see what happens and decide in the moment.

Some people have never entered the contest before, while others are returning to try again for a second or third year. I'm a legal intern with Pivot, and it's my first year with Hope in Shadows so I felt the excitement and trepidation too, not quite sure of what the day would hold when I left the house this morning.

I'm from Vancouver. I live in Strathcona, so I knew about the contest. I'd seen the calendars hanging in the homes of my friends, and I'd read the book telling the stories behind the photos. But, you don't know until you know.

Visitors come tot he Downtown Eastside and take pictures of what they see and share these photos with the world in the paper and on the news. People from outside the community say it is like this, and like that, and a lot of the time what they portray is negative, and what they show is just the surface.

Getting to talk to each person signing up for the contest I came to understand why Hope in Shadows is so popular, why people lined up all the way to United-We-Can at 10 in the morning just for a chance to get one of the 200 cameras to be handed out.

Hope in Shadows allows people from a community that is often the topic of conversation represent themselves and their community, their friends and their families, the way they see it, through their lens.

People from the community take the pictures, choose the winning photos and sell the calendars. They get a chance to be on the other side of the camera, to share their talent and creativity, and show people what is beneath the surface of this neighbourhood. It's a great opportunity to tell stories through photographs, and I'm glad I got a chance to be a small part of it.

Oh and did I mention that it's pretty fun.