Customer Reviews

Heroines

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These photographs by Lincoln Clarkes in this amazing book will change the way people look at Canada in general and Vancouver in particular. These are friendly and exquisite black and white photographs of drug-addicted women who live and work (usually as prostitutes) in Vancouver's downtown eastside neighborhood, a neighborhood unique in all the world for bearing the majority of an entire nation's overdose deaths, if not drug traffic as well. Clarkes captures the humanity and the artistry, as well as the desperation, of these women ... and of the city, too, which now must look at itself in different way. Heroines really is an epic work of photography and of social documentary.

I grew up in this neighborhood, knew a lot of these women so I may be a little biased, but I LOVE THIS BOOK.
In Vancouver, people try to hard to ignore this part of town, to ignore the people in this part of town, make believe that this problem does not exist in their "perfect" city.
Vancouver is beautiful, but obviously there's a problem.
This book makes it impossible to ignore that fact.
You see the girls as people, as beautiful women, as someones sister, daughter or mother.
They're vulnerable and hurting and you can't ignore them anymore..

The book is a telling glimpse into the lives of some of the women of the Vancouver Downtown Eastside.
As a community worker with hard-to-house ex-psychiatric residents in the area, in the 1980s I ran a Women's Group to address the risk of AIDS in relation to prostitution.
The dying wish of a long term dear friend of mine was that I remain in contact with his two daughters. This book available at the Vancouver Public Library--and the excellent video of the same name that aired on TV available at Douglas College that includes an interview with her--give me a means to follow the career of his youngest daughter. I hope to hear from her again soon, and hope she is alright.
Now I'll go ahead and buy the book. If only I could discover whether the video is available for sale to the public.

'Heroines' is a book that is so much more and so much deeper than most photographic books. The images that are presented in this book are, on the one hand, beautiful, thoughtful images and on the other hand, deeply touching and challenging, because of the subject matter. This book humanizes an element of human nature which we often just refer to as the 'drug problem' or 'the addicts,' this reminds us that these are people just like you and I, who have chosen a darker path. This is an important photographic work which has value far greater than just a nice collection of images. The print quality is excellent and the text is interesting, well writen and thought provoking. Overall a fascinating look into Vancouver'e downtown Eastside Heroin and drug Culture. Money very well spent. Great work Lincoln Clarkes!