vancouver strikes again - summer in the city

I am in Vancouver.

Family matters, of a joyful variety.

I have been so busy that I have not had time to bore you with my letterpress workshop in London, or tell you about my new storytelling ventures at Dungeness, involving Tracey and Emmeline, two corrugated metal dolls. More of them later.

For now I just have time to throw some images at you.

Vancouver is a great city for cone hunters and people who like decorated metal street cabinets.

I am not going to show you those either. You can catch up with them on my instagram account.

I am also not going to bore you with my A to Z of Vancouver in pictures. It is going well, but I do need a whale...

Last night I strolled the streets with the words 'summer in the city' as my brief. I did not allow myself to take any photos that didn't meet the brief.

I tried to capture the greenery alongside the skyscrapers and apartment blocks.

The pink/purple tower merits another visit

Flowering blossom  on a city tree

light and airy

cables and tower blocks

leafy side streets

and just as I was heading home

water lilies © Caroline Fraser

I walked over a bridge and looked down into the water

water lilies © Caroline Fraser

beautiful colours and shapes

water lilies © Caroline Fraser

everything a girl in the city could need.

water lilies © Caroline Fraser

the joys of jet lag and some photography in Vancouver

foggy dawn

I cannot thank eldest child for choosing to live in a city that allows for the most challenging jet lag of all destinations that I have encountered. I don't get stressed if I wake early, but I do get very tired, and that affects my brain in an adverse way.

• day one; wake 3.30am
• day 2 wake 4 am convinced that it is dawn.....but oh so wrong.
• day 3 wake 4.30; ah ha; moving in the right direction....
• day 4 wake 3.50 hmmmm
• day 5 wake 4.30 ; I give up. I want to go home...
• day 6 on plane to Auckland; breakfast served at 03.30 here we go again......
• day 7 wake 05.00 luxury item; getting it cracked now

• day 8 wake 06.00 YAY! I might be even be able to function when I start work tomorrow 

Suffice it to say that I have been unable to string any words together for this blog, or even decide what to post.

while most are sleeping

Should it be trees in the city?

trees in the city 1

trees in the city 2

Or should it be Vancouver and Stanley Park in the fog on a very cold and frosty walk before breakfast?

Dawn, Vancouver

sunrise

Stanley Park

Stanley Park 2

Stanley Park 3

 trees and crows

the last leaves of autumn

Or it could be 'Orange on Nelson'

Eldest child walks to work on this street daily. I joined her on my last day and in my jet lagged stupor decided to focus on the cheery colour orange on the return journey.

orange on nelson 1

orange on Nelson 2

Orange on Nelson 3

orange on Nelson 4

the strange bolted cones of Nelson Street

more orange on Nelson

micro cones cover tree stumps on Nelson.

As you can see, I have not been able to choose, so have shown them all.


And my favourite is the bird seen on a city side street. Which doesn't fit any of these themes.

Bird in the city © Caroline Fraser 2015

Got to go now; I forgot to pack any socks, and it is very cold here in the New Zealand 'summer', so I am off to the shops.

London Villages Project

On Saturday I attended the first meeting of a London-wide photographic collaboration of LIP members for a year long project on London villages; the London Villages Project . The aim is to cover all London boroughs and to create a body of work that is a unique contribution to the photographic record of London over the next 12 months. The participants can each choose a place that defines itself, be it a community, an emotional centre, home or street, and make their own interpretation of the dynamics and nuances of that community. 

We met in Piccadilly and heard examples of projects already underway, such as Anne-Marie Glasheen's exploration of the Excalibur estate in Catford; a unique development of post war prefabs that has survived far longer than intended, and is now under threat of re-development.

 Over 120 members of London Independent Photography are signed up to the project, and will get together monthly to discuss progress and share ideas. My intention is to focus on Widmore, Bickley and Chislehurst as these are all home territory. I started with a stroll up my own street on a sunny afternoon, and look forward to capturing it in all weathers and through the changing seasons.