Chameleons / Double life, 1st Prize
While living in Vancouver I resided in the demonized area known as the Downtown Eastside (DTES). I worked part-time in some of the residential housing programs and produced this series as an independent photographer. I met some of these drug-addicted subjects through work, met others in bars or in the street in front of my apartment. These particular women always impressed me on various levels. They are very complicated, and have been through tremendously damaging experiences.
Despite their difficult pasts, they are funny, humorous and loving people who are much more vulnerable than I first expected. My subjects often display such strength and power. The discovery of their fragility lead me to wonder how they physically present themselves to the world in order to feel safer or get what they need to survive. In photographing these women, both before and after they dress for the day, I wanted to communicate the idea of vulnerability and women’s presentation of one’s self to the world. All of us dress because we are vulnerable and want to come across in our respective desired way.
The DTES contains many people who are very good at heart and some may resort to illegal behavior such as prostituting, drug dealing, stealing and carjacking. I want to speak of the hardship linked to illegal activity by photographing this transition into their alter ego. These outfits often help these women dodge the police because they become unrecognizable after they finish dealing drugs, panhandling or sex-working.
Jennifer Lea Osborne
