How Do You Shoot the Lower East Side?

Kendra invited me down to the Procession of the Cross Easter Sunday in Vancouver's Lower East Side. "Would it be inappropriate to bring my Camera" "It's hard to be inappropriate on the Lower East Side" injected Sheona. Vancouver's famous lower east side. One of the poorest postal codes in Canada.

When Xalt took out the Salvation Army Kitchen on Wheels to Calgary's East Side by the river a number of coworkers mentioned how they would never feel safe there. The homeless were scary people to be avoided. My experience was that the homeless were people with a wide range of stories.

Easter morning I woke up early and wasn't able to get back to sleep. So I headed down to the Lower East Side about an hour or so before the Procession of the Cross just wander around, get a feel for the place. I was hoping to capture the Lower East Side, both what you expect there and what surprised me. There were some dramatic shots of people that I didn't get, I didn't want to intrude without permission. While there I was approached and asked if I was looking for "company" a couple of times.

I arrived at the Church just as the group was setting off. It was a lovely service.

Afterwards I was approached again and this time I made a counter offer. I was expecting to be told no. She asked how much, I asked her what she thought was fair, she said she'd really like X, I offered 2x. We did a quick shoot a couple of blocks away. I then dropped her off at a local eatery where she was going to get breakfast.

She was wonderful to work with and had a great sense of humor and an interest interest in music.

I don't know all the answers for how the rich and privileged (me) should interact with the poor and marginalized. I do know that I favor interaction over avoidance, even if I risk being inappropriate.

- Peace