{"id":240,"date":"2010-08-05T22:42:03","date_gmt":"2010-08-06T05:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingvancouver.ca\/?p=240"},"modified":"2013-01-21T07:11:02","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:11:02","slug":"homeless-voyeurism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2010\/08\/05\/homeless-voyeurism\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless Voyeurism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"homeless-voyeurism-06_waferboard\"Perhaps the fascination is the difference from our normal day-to-day lives. We\u2019re repulsed, but we feel sorry for them. We don\u2019t want them around, but feel we should help. Somehow. Some of them are very resourceful in their use of materials. Some are plain crazy, or have priorities very, very different from ours.<\/p>\n

Images and Statement by waferboard<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My morning commute takes me down the long hill of uptown New Westminster to Columbia Skytrain, and, at the other end, from Main Street up Quebec to a little shy of Broadway. Along the way, at both ends, are the regular and not-so-regular encampments of people \u2013 many who almost seem like neighbours after a while. Sometimes we exchange pleasantries of the \u201cnice morning\u201d variety.<\/p>\n

Seasons are important<\/strong>
\nThere are two main seasons for the homeless people I encounter: summer and the wet cold season. It\u2019s rare to have the same person stay in the same spot for a year. Perhaps homeless isn\u2019t the right word either. For some of these people, these spaces are home. I don\u2019t know them well enough to know what happens to them. Where did Ben go during the Olympics? What happened to that friendly guy who doubled as the church\u2019s grounds-keeper? They\u2019ve both disappeared. Somehow I feel vaguely culpable. Could I have done more?<\/p>\n

Olympics<\/strong>
\nThere was a thriving homeless, or alternatively-domiciled community at the foot of False Creek up until the Fall of 2009. Many were \u201cwheel\u201d people. They had elaborate contraptions that were hauled by bicycles, and they seemed to migrate during the day from the shores of the inlet up the train tracks towards the Home Depot, and then back again. They\u2019ve disappeared, and now the area is curiously devoid of baggage trains and their handlers. I\u2019d like to think they were given homes, but I have to admit I\u2019m skeptical. What\u2019s really nourishing that sod roof of the convention centre?<\/p>\n

The photos<\/strong>
\nThese shots were taken over several years. They\u2019re not ordered. I was most interested in how shelters were created, or absent. They\u2019re biased towards 6th Street in New Westminster, especially the Anglican Church at the bottom of the hill by the Columbia Skytrain Station and the bit of Quebec just South of Terminal.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

***<\/p>\n

Other resources<\/strong>
\nFlickr groups:
\nHomeless in Vancouver<\/a>: the name says it all.
\nBen\u2019s Stuff <\/a>: created by a co-work and myself to document the interesting character we think was called Ben. Ben didn\u2019t talk, but he had a real thing for wheels. We think Ben and Izzy had something going for a while, and wrote notes to each other, which we carefully took photos of. Ben disappeared before the Olympics. I hope he\u2019s ok.
\nBlog post<\/a>: I wrote a post about homeless people in New Westminster for the hyper-local blog Tenth to the Fraser.
\nI then tried to fix it a bit on my \u201cwaferisms\u201d blog<\/a>: in January, 2009. It\u2019s a little dated now. I should revisit it, because there have been interesting developments.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s \u201cwaferboard\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nI work for a publishing company, and some interest in what that word means now. By trade I\u2019m a production artist, but I use the term \u201cartist\u201d rather loosely, ha!<\/em><\/p>\n

I can be found at: flickr<\/a> & Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Blogs:
\nwaferisms.blogspot.com<\/a>
\nwaferboard.blogspot.com<\/a>
\nwaferboard.posterous.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the fascination is the difference from our normal day-to-day lives. We\u2019re repulsed, but we feel sorry for them. We don\u2019t want them around, but feel we should help. Somehow. Some of them are very resourceful in their use of materials. Some are plain crazy, or have priorities very, very different from ours. 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