It’s tough to sum up a project that pretty much consumed two years of our lives and had been on our minds for closer to six.
Back in 2011 we started mulling the idea of a portrait-based book that explored stories of related to Vancouver history and culture, told through the people who live here today. To tie all of the shots together (and as a nod to the fact that we live in a rain forest), each person was soaked with water at the start of the shot - a feeling we’ve all shared after being caught in an unexpected downpour.
By 2014 we felt ready to start shooting, and got the first 30 or so images in the can before then launching a Kickstarter campaign the following summer for pre-sales, in order to fund the printing of 2,000 copies of a 9x12 hardcover book, ready for Christmas 2015. In retrospect, on the numerous occasions where publishing industry people told us that our timelines were insane, we should have listened.
Aside from all the research and planning, the shooting and the post production, there was the Kickstarter campaign that in itself was more than a full time job. To add more fun to the mix, Adam and his wife had a baby boy, while me and my partner were doing long distance with her living in Victoria. I think I lost about 30lbs and grew a substantial number of grey hairs. But the book launched officially on December 16th 2015, and now I wouldn’t change any of it.
We were fortunate to convince some incredible people to give us their time - some you might know, others you most likely won’t. Some stories would make you smile, others - well let’s just say Vancouver has had its fair share of black marks and shameful episodes, some of which are ongoing today.
But that’s the reality of Vancouver - a place shared by many, all of whom have stories of struggle, heartache and victory, and our only hope was to bring together some of the stories for everyone to see.
