We’re two weeks into the annual Capture Photography Festival. While many exhibitions and public art projects will remain on view beyond the 2023 festival’s final day (April 30th), there’s still so much to see and too little time! Here’s a guide to navigating your way through the second half of Capture, including not-to-miss special events, artist talks, and exhibitions closing soon.

ARTIST TALK WITH LUCAS BLALOCK

Listen to New York-based photographer Lucas Blalock speak about his practice, as part of Capture’s Speaker Series. The talk will focus on his GreyChurch Billboard Public Art project, French Country Kitchen, located at Fraser and East 15th (right by Les Faux Bourgeois), three works on rotation over the next year. Currently on view is Conch and Berries, and (picture above). Blalock’s work purposely reveals rudimentary Photoshop skills, emphasizing the possibilities of technology and the labour and process involved in the making of a photograph. Attend to learn more! Register here.

FEATURED EXHIBITION

Here and Now is a group exhibition featuring ten emerging and established artists commissioned by Capture to create new work for this year’s Festival. Join five of the exhibition’s artists — Ian Wallace, Gloria Wong, Tom Hsu, Dana Qaddah, and Khim Hipol — in conversation about their work. The talk will be moderated by Lauren Lavery, founder and editor of Peripheral Review, an independent platform for critical and experimental art writing in Canada. What better way to learn about contemporary art than to hear from the artists themselves? The exhibition is on view at Pendulum Gallery until April 28th. Register here.

DIGITAL SKINS

Catch Digital Skins at the artist-run Peanuts Gallery to view a series of work where real and digital worlds collide, by artist Hayley Lohn. Lohn’s work explores topics surrounding technology, the natural world, and psychology. In this series, the artist presents diptychs – traditional photographic portraits alongside algorithm-generated interpretations of the subject’s social media, or their ‘digital skins’. This same series will be presented later this year at the United Nations in New York City. It was also previously the subject of an artist talk at The Griffin Museum of Photography in Boston. In Vancouver, it will be on view for six days only, with an opening reception on Friday, April 21st from 6-10pm. Don’t miss it!

ARTIST TALK WITH KEN JEANNOTTE

Join ‘artist @ large’, Ken Jeannotte, for a talk and tour of his exhibition, hosted by Kate Metten Ceramics. Your visit is doubly worthwhile as you get to pursue all the gorgeous handmade pots and plates in the shop! Find out more.

CAPTURE X EMILY CARR

Nurturing and mentoring the next generation of artists is an important part of Capture. Looking After: Photography as an Act of Care is a group show by Emily Carr University artists, curated by Birthe Piontek (artist and Assistant Professor of Photography, Audain Faculty of Art, ECU). The exhibition hones in on image-making as a relationship of respect, where the photograph acts as a gesture of care. Through the Capture x Emily Carr program, students are connected to a network of creative practitioners and industry leaders, and receive mentorship from curators, including Capture’s Executive Director, Emmy Lee Wall. Participating artists are: David Aquino, Edward Brilliant, Kelsey Brill-Funk, Harriet Forster, Dorsa Hadikhanlou, Khim Hipol, Leo Mah, Charlie Mahoney-Volk, and Skye Tao. These are the names you’ll likely notice in exhibitions in the near future – so take note!

CLOSING CELEBRATION

Head to North Vancouver’s Polygon Gallery to view their current exhibition, As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, an incredible display of over 100 photographs by 74 artists, from the Wedge Collection. Founded in 1997 by Dr. Kenneth Montague, the Wedge Collection is Canada’s largest private collection dedicated to championing Black artists. Capture’s final Speaker Series talk is all about the origins and histories behind select works in the exhibition, featuring acclaimed curator and cultural historian, Dr. Mark Sealy, in discussion with Montague. RSVP here.