[Leica] Nickel Elmar on an M8

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

>Those are Henning's shots, though my neighborhood is much grimmer than his.
>
>On Feb 5, 2008 6:53 PM, Richard Endress <rfendress@fastermac.net> wrote:
>
>>  Jeff,  Nice images of a grim neighborhood. Nice enough, and
>>  interesting, if you watch your back.  When I get too old to work it
>>  looks to be about my price range.
>>
>>  Richard Endress
>>  rfendress@fastermac.net

This neighbourhood, the 'downtown East Side', is Canada's poorest 
neighbourhood. Vancouver has the unfortunate distinction of having 
the both the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods in Canada. 
Homelessness is just part of the problem, but because Vancouver has 
Canada's most benign climate, the problem is worst here.

I don't take pictures of the rougher parts. I'm not part of the 
neighbourhood, and I can't and won't pretend I am. My current job is 
directly adjacent, but its quite separate from the neighbourhood. 
Street life is mostly composed of serious drug and alcolhol addicts, 
prostitutes, and most seriously, people with debilitating mental 
health problems. A couple of decades ago our government decided that 
mental hospital patients would be better served by giving them a 
monthly allowance and letting them fend for themselves. This policy 
has led to them being taken advantage of by all the drug dealers and 
flop house owners. A terrible situation that the authorities are only 
now starting to address, albeit slowly. The Vancouver Police have 
just put out a report that states that over half their calls deal 
with people with mental illnesses.

http://tinyurl.com/2mhza6

I have a hard time taking pictures of these people who have no 
defence, and are accorded no dignity. I talk to some, but it usually 
ends with a plea for money for alcohol or drugs. Sometimes they ask 
for food, but many just say what they really want the money for. If I 
have food with me they accept it.

Overt violence isn't an issue in this area, but extreme destitution 
and exploitation is.

-- 
    *            Henning J. Wulff
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