Prince George is a beautiful city, the falls are crisp and colourful and the winters are pristine and majestic. As a photographer, this creates picturesque scenes that create amazing shots. Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park is one of my favourite places to go and explore with my camera. However, it is far from the only place, L.C. Gunn Park, the Ancient Forest, Forests for the World, Miworth, Shelley, Buckhorn, the list can go on forever. Every one of these locations in our community hold an opportunity for one to explore and capture a moment of singular beauty. I am a fan of macro photography; there is something about capturing a world in a picture that we never really notice in our daily lives that excites me.
In popular culture, it feels as if one must be in big cities with posh cafés and snobbish art curators in order to find culture. When I think of photography, and art for some reason, the movie “You’ve Got Mail” comes to mind. Perhaps because, in our culture, we associate New York as the only place where artists can truly express themselves. In the movie, Tom Hanks talks about his love for New York in the fall and all the beauty it offers. I think that way about our community. As a photographer, I love Prince George in the fall; and summer; and winter; and heck even the spring. There is something about a community like ours that gets me excited to explore with my camera in hand.
In places like Vancouver you can find beauty too, but the true joy of our community is you are not lost in the sea of people all clamoring for a moment in the spotlight. Our community loves to celebrate our amateur and professional photographers. The Facebook group “Hell Yeah Prince George” constantly shows us that there is no shortage of people who love photography too. It is that sense of digital community involvement that motivates more people to pursue a hobby or possibly a dream even further.
It is not just the subjects or the digital platforms that make Prince George such a good place for a photographer to call home; it is the community as well. As an amateur photographer, I always thought it would be difficult to find people to model for me. In reality, once you put yourself out into the community you find a plethora of people willing to work with you, and model for you. That is another one of this community’s great qualities; it does not matter what you want to do people are eager and excited to support your projects.
We celebrate Prince George all the time for its affordable houses, job opportunities, and natural wonder. I have tried to show, with my blogs, another side of Prince George that must not be overlooked, its arts and culture scene. In life we need to find avenues to express ourselves whether that be through, music, photography, painting, movies or something else. The community of Prince George can help a person find their form of expression and also the people who will rally behind them to encourage it to grow. It is through that expression that we will discover why we are living in the best place on earth.
