Lora

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Randy

"I am a 58 year old man retired from the transportation industry and living with HIV. I love photography and am learning more about the power of imagery. I never really gave up on learning, and plan to continue."

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Rob

"I was drawn to “The way I see it” project because of my love for photography and my passion for shooting for social change. Those who are homeless are at greater risk of becoming HIV positive as well as a great number who already are. When I was a young, homeless and at risk, I became HIV positive. Looking now through the eyes of an adult from my subsidized one bedroom apartment, I hope to convey a feeling of compassion."

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Valerie

"My name is Valerie Nicholson. I am HIV positive. In my fifties I was homeless. Today at 56 I am a grandmother, an activist, an HIV educator, a S.F.U. graduate in community capacity building, a community based researcher, a nutritional outreach worker and co-founder of Harvest Organic Co-op. I am a Proud, Positive, Passionate woman living and working in the DTES who is making a difference. – Ma Bear."

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Lynda

"My name is Lynda. I’m 53 years old. I’m First Nations from Saskatchewan but I’ve been living here since 1979. Vancouver is home now. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’ve lived at Granville and Davie for four years. I spend my time visiting with friends and family. I’m involved in a few projects at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver Native Health Society and the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. I was nervous when I first started this project. It was scary. I didn’t know what to expect. But it got easier. It’s not so bad. I wanted to keep my photos simple. I didn’t want to show the bad part. There are some good things about living in Vancouver. It helped me mentally seeing there is peace and serenity here. That’s the part of pigeon park I wanted to show. Normal things do happen in pigeon park. People visiting with each other, sharing - it’s not all chaos."

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Dan

"Dan has recently graduated from Literacy Lives, Community Capacity Building at SFU and mentors at UBC in the Humanities 101 Writing program."

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Mel

"I was born on the eighth day of the 7th month in the 63rd year of 1900 in a village named Sachs Harbour. The harbour is attached a village which is part of an island adjacent to an even larger island. The latter island is known by the locals and the non-locals as "Turtle Island." The former island is called Banks Island. The family I was born into was “the Raddi Clan.” I was one of nine siblings – seven brothers and two sisters. The sister’s are the book ends of the brothers, of which I was born right in the middle. Through lack of community intervention I was taken as a ward of the government of the North West Territories. I eventually was adopted by “the Hennan family” which consists of my parents and three older sisters. I now reside in the DTES of Vancouver, which has inspired my artistic talents and energy. All our relations."

Click here to see a selection of Mel’s photos