… waiting at a blank canvas of keys.

Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.

– Ada Louise Huxtable

Here is a fresh wallpaper for you. This was taken on approach to KGL (Kigali International Airport) while filming aerials for Rwanda: Hope Rises in 2008. Click on the photo to download a full-size JPEG.

After a shoot earlier in the year for the newly opened downtown Robert Lee YMCA, I was brought back to re-work the brand imagery for a further three of the YMCA’s family centres in Greater Vancouver. The deadline was tight (aren’t they all?). Over 5000 images shot over the last two days in time for a dozen selects, processed and ready for release tonight. Here are a few of my favourites.

What I love about shooting for the YMCA is there is such a great community vibe. Each of the centres has its own flavour & feel, and at each place the volunteers and members are more than willing to jump in and help out. Everyone featured in these photos (and for the previous RLY shoot) is someone who is part of the YMCA community in some way. There are no professional models. While this poses some problems in terms of getting advertising-ready images out of the shoot, it also lends an authentic feel to the images. I love how these turned out, and I’m looking forward to more upcoming work with the YMCA in the new year.

A fresh wallpaper for a crisp month. Click the image to download the full-size file.

A four-year project in the making, the Robert Lee YMCA is a great example of human-centred architectural design. Where the original 1941 building felt closed and functional, the new building is open, inviting and filled with natural light. I was invited to photographically explore the architectural spaces (designed by Vancouver companies Endall Elliot and Stantec) for a special supplement in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. You can see a few of the photos in the gallery below.

For more information on the Robert Lee YMCA, check out the latest article on the Vancouver Observer.

[ See more photos from the Robert Lee YMCA's Open House → ]

In the meantime, I also had the pleasure of shooting the two-day open house just prior to the centre’s May 3rd opening. I had fun capturing the energy as YMCA volunteers toured prospective members through the new facility. Click on a thumbnail below for photos of the open house (and check back soon for more about the photos in the Vancouver Sun…)

During the facilitated three-course dinner, participants will be able to dialogue through conversation and visualisation in order to investigate new ways to respond to these complex topics by applying the value of design to them. The tablecloth will be a conduit to allow for idea development and exchange. The aim is to investigate how a collaborative informal approach can help a community work collectively toward a common future. By treating complexity with a measure of comradery, and using design process and thinking, we propose that new and undetected ideas can emerge.

A three-corner panorama taken at Robson & Granville in Vancouver after Canada’s Olympic Hockey Gold-medal win last night.

Esther & Jason are a love story in progress. In late January I was able to spend a couple of hours with them on their wedding day. After a week of rain, it was the perfect shooting day. The sky was a rich blue, and a rainbow formed as the sun dipped below the horizon. We had a great time out in the cold and back at Cecil Green getting these shots. Enjoy!