Photographic art exhibit on Prince George's homeless

Local photographer Bobbi Knight poses with the 2010 calendar she created for the local St. Vincent De Paul, featuring a different local homeless person for each month. 

By Tyler Clarke, editor of Cutbanks- the Prince George Cultural Magazine

Artistic and cultural inspiration hit local photographer Bobbi Knight a while ago while in Vancouver witnessing a protest taking place in front of a police department, protesting police ticketing homeless people for jaywalking. After the protest, Knight proceeded to explore the city, talking to and taking photos of the city’s many homeless people, promising them that she would do something with the photos. Making true to her promises, Knight is holding a launch for a new art exhibit Thursday November 12 at the Two Rivers Art Gallery in Prince George, complete with photos she took of the Vancouver homeless as well as those in Prince George.

Arriving back home in Prince George after the protest, Knight was in talks with the St. Vincent De Paul Drop-In Centre, who encouraged her to take similar photos of homeless people in Prince George. Having sold calendars at St. Vincent De Paul in the past that featured pictures of homeless people in Vancouver, they thought it appropriate to make a more local calendar, complete with a different person for each month as well as a quotation by the person.

Singling out one homeless Prince George citizen per month with the calendar will help put a face to homelessness in our city, Knight explained.

“They really do feel that people haven’t heard their story,” she said. “They are people with hopes and dreams. They have families… I think what I’d like to do is make a bridge between the public and the homeless. It’s a public health issue downtown.”

It’s easier to walk past faceless people asking for change downtown, Knight went on, than to walk past people you might recognize from the calendar.

“After I took the photos and had them tell me their story they seemed so happy that some cried,” Knight said, adding that it helped give them a sense of importance long-since stripped from them.

The most memorable photo Knight remembers having taken took place in Vancouver with a man named Seville, who burst into tears when she asked if she could take his photo.

“Lots of people have taken his photo, but no one has ever asked,” she said.

The art exhibit of photographs Knight took in both Vancouver and Prince George will be launched at the Two Rivers Art Gallery Thursday, November 12, from 5-8 p.m., with Knight on-hand to describe her inspiration. The event is free of charge.

The calendars will be available at the Two Rivers Art Gallery, as well as the St. Vincent De Paul thrift store downtown and the St. Vincent De Paul Drop-In Centre and Ooh… Chocolat.