I am a city dweller, I live in Vancouver, BC. Sometimes that can be a hindrance to taking the kind of stark and surreal landscape images that I would like to be taking in the Canadian Rockies or up in the Arctic, but sometimes it challenges me to think a little more. I love Vancouver, it is a vibrant city. It has amazing glass buildings, tall towers and a host of great street scenes. Like most cities, it also has its dark side. It has a grunginess that is unique and can be quite captivating. This Vancouver is an interesting one and at night it can look amazing. So, when I walk around Vancouver, my goal is to capture the “soul” of this place.
The first thing you notice when you walk around Vancouver is that is has a lot of interesting architecture. There is also plenty juxtaposition (opposing themes) there are some amazing colours and architecture, beautiful streets and building and some very badly run down parts. Vancouver is more than this, there is a part of the city that is timeless in some way and whenever I walk around my city, I try and capture at least one image that will cause people to wonder where it was taken.
So, I challenge myself and ask myself the following questions about each image
- Uniqueness: Have I seen this image before. In other words am I trying to copy a photo I have seen on a post card somewhere or on a poster or is this a unique image?
- Colour: Have I made the image colourful? Is there a theme of a single colour or is there a riot of different colours?
- Life: Have I captured something that reflects the hear of the city or the people there or is it another bland “post card” shot
- Juxtaposition: have I captured something that might be a contradiction for example a BMW driving past a homeless person
- Reference: Is the image identifiable? In other words if someone was to look at the image is it a uniquely Vancouver image or could it be any city in the world. Either way it doesn’t matter, but don’t be ambiguous, choose what you want the viewer to see
- Urban Decay: This is really what urban landscapes are about for me. Its about capturing a thriving city AND parts of the city that are now degenerating and seeing how people and life abounds amidst this change
- Fun: Is this fun? Am I enjoying taking the images, sometimes its not fun and then its time to go home.
So, if you are keen to capture your city, whichever city you live in, these are just some ideas that I use to get the creative juices flowing….who knows, maybe you will look at your home city through different eyes tomorrow.