In 2014, I was hired by the Calgary Homeless Foundation and tasked to help with their latest project, Stepping Stone Manor.

The idea was that a new, affordable housing property was going to be built in place of an old house which was seeing its final days. Rather than just demolish the old property, artists, including myself, with the guidance of CHF would “beautify” the home before demolition. In my part, I was tasked to capture the heart of the beltline, which is a portion of downtown Calgary just north of the skyline. This came in two parts. 1. Photographing the neighborhood and all of its character, and 2. Taking portraits of some of the people who work in the local businesses. The photos would then be blown up to four feet on the short end and affixed to the front of the house. Once the property was demolished, they would be transferred to the surrounding fence.

The Neighbourhood

Not all of these would make the final. These photos were presented to a panel of CHF employees for a viewing and finals were chosen.

The People

As I wandered the streets, I walked into businesses with model release in hand and asked to take their portrait. All but one of these are impromptu and took less than 30 minutes. From what I recall, not a single person said no. As with the other photos, a selection of these were made. It was also decided at the last minute that we would crop to a square format to maximize the real estate on the final product.