Stranger

Comparison of two photographs: Brian Dyson (top) and John Goldsmith (bottom)

Several days ago I was browsing through the books at Pulpfiction on Main Street. My friend said that I could find Garry Winogrand’s “Public Relations” there but no luck. I must’ve paused for too long to catch The Master event photographer. I did, however, come across a small paperback from a Canadian documentary photographer named Brian Dyson.

As I paged through, I found a scene that immediately struck me. It all looked, suddenly, familiar: Lost Lagoon. The tree. The bench — now hidden. Even the vantage point is strikingly similar. I know the place. I know the photograph. I remember how I went about composing the picture. My memory connected the dots of these two photos before I even made it to the caption, which reads: “Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, 1969.”

The major differences between the two frames, aside from swapping a man for a woman, is a span of 39 years and a Weeping Willow that shows its maturity. It has grown alongside Vancouver, yet this  peaceful promenade, at the edge of a vibrant and cosmopolitan metropolis, has remained essentially untouched over that time. This balancing act of green acres and green glass is exactly the reason that many people make this city a destination and their home. I wonder how many other people’s imaginations were captured by this majestic tree that overlooks the jewel of the city. I wonder how many other people’s photographs have captured this same view.

The book is called “One Eye Open, One Eye Closed” and was published in 2005.

It turns out that Pulpfiction did carry Winogrand’s book. The store owner recognized me when I returned to snap a copy of Dyson’s picture and said it was at their Broadway store. So a big thanks to Pulpfiction Books and my friend for the referral — I’ll be picking up Public Relations tomorrow!

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Books are the Foundation to Gear

I recently moved into my new office and along with an upgrade in computing came a new (and growing) library. My latest acquisition? “10″– 10 Years of In-Public. It arrived yesterday from Nick Turpin Publishing in London who puts out some seriously superior work, including their first release — the Publication #1 Manuscript and prints — which is nothing short of excellence.

The In-Public website and its members have served as a great inspiration to me since I began shooting Street in 2006. It is for this reason that I’m making this thank you post. It’s also the reason that I made a quick buy of ‘10.’ Of course, the book did not disappoint.

‘10′ is fantastic for anyone interested in Street Photography. Along with pictures from many of the best contemporary Street Photographers, Ten is made extremely well, from the binding to everything in between. I highly recommend that you buy it for your own shelf.

If you’re in Vancouver, a group of local Street Photographers are planning an outing to the Henri Cartier-Bresson “Master of the Instant” exhibit at the West Vancouver Museum this Saturday. I’ll have Ten in hand and I’m more than happy to let you preview my copy (if you bring white cotton gloves). ;)

Let me know if you interested in coming out to the photowalk and the show and thanks again Nick and all of In-Public photogs for the inspiration. I can’t wait to see ‘20′ when it hits the shelves in a decade. With that, my apologies to HCB — you’re now fourth deep in the book stack — right behind Fred Herzog, Roy Arden and now the entire cast at In-Public.

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