March 2012
| Through Our Window by Sarah Ouellette Honourable Mention This is the view from the third-floor of the Rainier Hotel, a 41-unit treatment and housing centre for women run by PHS Community Services Society. Sarah Ouellette took the picture from her friend’s window. “It was kind of a hopeful picture to me,” she says. “There’s a lot of decay, there’s an old rusty fire escape and there’s rotting wood. But then there’s a really pretty tree growing out of it, and really pretty stuff that’s still living and making it just fine.” To Sarah, the view shows beauty in a neighbourhood often overshadowed by negative images. “There’s always pictures of the ugliness, and the crappy things that go on down here,” she says. “It’s nice to get some good pictures, too.” Sarah Ouellette is 27 years old and has lived in the Downtown Eastside, off and on, for about 15 years. She is a regular participant in Megaphone magazine’s community writing workshops and also loves to draw, paint, and sing. Sarah’s poetry has been published in Megaphone and she recently completed a journalism class at SFU Woodward’s. A collection of her writing will soon be published as part of the Downtown Eastside Studio Society’s creative writing program. This is her first time participating in the Hope in Shadows photography contest. “I can’t wait to do it again next year.” From the Hope in Shadows collection |
