DTES
The neighbourhood in Vancouver where I live is a bit of an in-between place, partly the funkiness of Commercial Drive, partly the urbane middle-class cosiness of Strathcona. On the city map, however, it's clearly demarcated as the industrial part of the Downtown East Side.
Right outside my studio is the part of town where the trans* sex trade workers ply their trade. There is lots of evidence of drug use, poverty, and homelessness. I've been searching for a way to communicate about these issues without fetishizing them, or being condescending, or exploitative. At the same time this is not a bubble outside of "normal" society, and there is a richness and depth to living here that I didn't find living in the sparkly condos.
Anyway. This is my daily.
