It was a natural link and I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about what it was to be British and live in the Metro Vancouver area.
Towards the end of last year, I photographed Chris. He’d put a call out on a Facebook group I’d recently joined for a photographer as he was considering looking for extras work in the local TV/movie sector. We met up on Granville Island, had a chat, and had a great portrait shoot (you’ll find him on my portfolio page) and it got me thinking about a personal project.
Fast forward a couple of months and I decided to put a call out through the Facebook Group for Brits wanting to tell their story. What interested me? Having relocated with my family back in 2007 and to a certain extent, keeping arm’s length from the ex-pat circuit, I felt the pull to explore what brought others here. It was a natural link and I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about what it was to be British and live in the Metro Vancouver area.
My call attracted more people than I’d asked for and so the project already started to grow, there was a desire to be involved, and others wanted to share their experiences. To make this thing work I wanted to get answers to some simple questions from everyone that participated and I also wanted to include something that brought the series of portraits together. I decided to use a prop that was easily identifiable, quintessentially British, something that would transcend generations, be about travel, adventure, meeting new people and exploring unfamiliar worlds.
The project, Brits in Vancouver: Adventures in Time and Place is up and running. I’ve decided to make it an ongoing project, something I can grow, explore on different levels, and return to. In fact, it’s become bigger on the inside (my motivation) than it was on the outside (when I first put pencil to paper and outlined my idea).
