The second installment of Vancouver as I know it, photos courtesy of Carl-Magnus Dumell at www.dumell.net

Hastings Street
where $20 will get you anything, even killed This shot was taken right out the front door of the Empress Hotel where a bunch of us frenetical believers laid our weary heads...I have to smile when I think of all the parking tickets and tows that occurred out front of the hotel...some things aren't funny until way afterwards...one fixture that is absent from this photo is my friend Michael, who sits on the corner of Hastings and Main with his garbage bag full of treasure. He was there every morning when I walked to and from class, or meetings or errands. He likes apple juice the best and if you stop for long enough, he will actually converse with you - I learned quickly, however, that when I saw a congregation of empty beer cans strewn off to his right side to give him a wide berth - beer made him verbally nasty. All that being said, he has one of the best smiles in the DTES.

stairs
stairs,somewhere, leading nowhere These stairs lead to one of the most panoramic and impressive views of the mountains and North Vancouver in all of Vancouver - at Crabtree Beach. It's fitting, however, that married with this stairway to beauty is the undisguised reality of the neighbourhood, depicted in the rig casually displayed at the base of the stairway.

negotiating
a prostitute trying to make a deal
done deal
prostitute getting into a customers car Perhaps it's easier for someone who doesn't know anyone in the 'business' to scroll over these two photos. These are my neighbours, and not just neighbours like your sub-division sort of neighbours, these are men and women that I spent time with, ate meals with, had evening tea with, walked places with and prayed with.

with grace, and sentiment,
Heather

all photos available here
are copyright © 1993-2005
Carl-Magnus Dumell