I would love to see this exhibit myself

Driving School’ was shot by Fred Herzog in 1959. Photo courtesy Equinox Gallery/Estate of Fred Herzog

Brendan Kergin at Vancouver is Awesome.com

A Colour Legacy is the name of a recently published book and incoming exhibit celebrating Vancouver’s most famous street photographer.

Later this month, the show will open in Vancouver with more than 60 previously unseen shots by Fred Herzog.

Herzog, a German immigrant who moved to Vancouver in his early 20s captured everyday scenes across the city for decades, starting in the ’50s. While he was a medical photographer by trade, he’s become famous for his work around Vancouver’s streets.

Using Kodachrome slide film, his photos have become famous for capturing everyday life in Vancouver with a cinematic scope.

“Rather than seeking picturesque views, Herzog focused on the density and improvisation of urban life: hand-painted advertisements, crowded storefronts, diners, sailors, workers, and the dynamic choreography of the street,” reads a press release from Equinox Gallery.

Herzog died in 2019 and left 90,000 unseen slides and photographic material, and left Andy Sylvester, owner of Equinox Gallery, as special trustee in charge of the collection. Since then, Sylverster reviewed the material and selected 69 for the new book and exhibit.

“He preferred colour photographs because he wanted to show the world as he saw it, including its seemingly mundane aspects that were, in fact, highly textured, poetic, and evocative of lives lived,” says Sylvester in the press release.

A Colour Legacy (the exhibit) will run from May 30 to June 27 at the Equinox Gallery (3642 Commercial St.). The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.

For more images go here.

Visit the takenote.ca HOME page for a colourful display of hundreds of other blogs which may interest or inspire you