ENTRY DESCRIPTION
I must have driven past this terminal at the ports in North Vancouver almost a hundred times and never seen people interacting with the architecture; so when i saw these workers cleaning debris out from the building I drove home a grabbed my cameras. The building always seemed so harsh and alien, always devoid of action or life without any nature save a large flock of pigeons that fly back and forth. having people working in the image and the dust cloud in motion give the image a new dimension. A lived in quality for the building as well as a sense of scale that is hard to represent accurately in a photograph. I find myself drawn to harsh and industrial landscapes and this is the most evident example that I have seen in Vancouver. seeing the people there made me wonder why they choose to be in that environment all day. Surely people would choose to be elsewhere on their time off which makes me think every time I see this picture; we build this world around us but is it for us. did this facility get so big that we are just there to serve it or do these places still serve us. If the workers clothing gives any clues, I would say no. Full protective suites with hard hats, respirators and goggles allude to how this was not made for us, to the point of it being incredibly dangerous for the workers who dip in and out to make sure the structure can carry on with its task uninhibited.

AUTHOR
Keith (Leo) Van Doormaal is a 29 year old photographer, based in Vancouver, just beginning their professional career. they were introduced to photography in Vietnam in 2011 and through a long process of self discovery and practice found an affinity towards travel and people. their practice is philosophically rooted in shooting democratically and hunting for organic compositions and tends towards seeking out spontaneous beauty and true personality. Keith aspires to master the documentary genre while discovering the commonalities in people from desperate cultures and landscapes.

back to gallery