A friend of mine has a house just off of Mountain View Cemetery at 38th and Main. This is where my studio is so I spend at least a couple of days a week there. They call me the “Artist in Residence”. My mate Paul found a photograph in the Vancouver Archives of a group of brewery workers from Main Street Brewery taking a well-deserved break. This photo has really burned itself into my mind as it amazes me how much the area has changed in just over 100 years, and how much photography has advanced. The added impression of the image was enhanced by the hours I spent retouching and reconstructing areas of the photo that where missing. The photo itself is in various tones of sepia and off white while some of the images are blurred due to the technology and that the subjects could not sit still long enough for clarity. These affects make the photo slightly eerie and definitely unmistakable as a snap in history. The clothing, kegs, and guns add to its location in time. The eagle in the background almost makes it feel patriotic, as though the photo was taken in the US. Lastly the dog in the foreground adds a subtle sympathetic side to the men in the group.
Shot taken at the Mountain View Cemetery
Original: Workers from Main Street Brewery
Final Piece
The fact that the cemetery is so prominent within this neighbourhood compelled me to place the images together, to place the past within the present. I included some of the housing around the cemetery to further impact the changes that time has brought. The lush green and the fact that the trees & bushes are crystal clear reflect the use of modern photographic technology. To add further impact and perspective I selectively masked in some of the gravestones, that again add a modern day setting with sharper vibrant colour selections of various shades of greens, greys and beiges. The head stones also add to the narrative of these men no longer being here, and touch on the complexities of trying to understand death, and how we try to engage with pictures of people that are no longer with us. BOO!
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