Capture Photography Festival Returns to Vancouver

From April 1 to April 30, Capture Photography Festival, Western Canada’s largest curation of lens-based art, returns to Vancouver. Since its start in 2013, Capture annually unites local and international creatives through exhibitions, public art projects, tours and talks. 

“Vancouver has such a rich tradition of photography, and it has a lot of well known photographers living and working in the city,” says Emmy Wall, Capture Photography Festival’s Executive Director and Chief Curator. 

Capture Photography Festival will be seen across several major institutions including the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Audain Art Museum. For the Festival’s 13th year, Simon Fraser University’s Gibson Art Museum and North Vancouver’s Polygon Gallery are also showcasing work.

Capture is best known for its public art projects, particularly its longstanding partnership with the Canada Line, where large-scale photographs transform transit stations into accessible exhibition spaces. 

“When you take the Canada Line from Waterfront to Richmond-Brighouse, on the exterior of the station there are large scale photographs printed on vinyl,” Wall said. “I love that this captures an audience that isn’t necessarily seeking a contemporary art experience.”

This year, the festival has expanded their presence with a series of billboards along the Arbutus Greenway, titled Compañerx by Camila Falquez, blending the traditions of portraiture and fashion photography to create a sense of performative expression.

Alongside it is a signature installation at the Dal Grauer Substation featuring work by local Cree and Métis artist, Michelle Sound. Sound’s work at the Substation highlights Indigenous presence in the city.

This year, Capture is also having their speaker series which helped open the festival at the Vancouver Art Gallery with a talk by American photographer, Stephen Shore. 

“It’s become more international in scope. Initially, there was a focus on sharing the work of local photographers,” explained Wall. “We want to create a real dialogue between the local and international.”

Wall describes the festival as something that “brings together a snapshot of a moment,” with exhibitions and work truly showcasing photography as not just a powerful visual medium, but as something that by integrating with textiles and sculptures, can expand the boundaries of the medium itself.

Information on how to attend Capture Photography Festival is here.
Capture Photography Festival runs until April 30 at various venues across the city and beyond.