New group of Vancouver street photographers continue legacy of Fred Herzog

Inspired by the giants of Vancouver's street photography scene, a new group brought together by Instagram hopes to capture the city's streets in profound new ways.

Photographers Stuart Weir and Trevor Wide are two of the curators behind the Vancity Street Collective.

"I had started photographing Vancouver's city streets about a year ago and I realized that I just couldn't be the only one in Vancouver taking street photographs and I wanted to see if there [was]a group of like-minded individuals who wanted to join," Weir said.

Wide joined the group in January, and since then they've been featuring works from many different photographers of scenes around the city.

"The community grew and got bigger and we have people from amateur photographers to professional photographers, young and old, all showing their own unique style of how they interpret the city and how they've been inspired by people like Fred Herzog," Wide said.

Herzog, who died earlier this week, wasrenowned for his colourful photographs, whichcaptured Vancouver street scenes and changing times in the 1950s and '60s when almost all other art photography was in black and white.

The city lends itself well to photography, Wide says.

"There's so much out in Vancouver that most other cities don't have" Wide said. "There's the ever-changing environment, the weather. It's raining today but we're happy because we photographers love the rain it gives a lot of good mood and moments."

Weir says, however,too much beauty like Vancouver's sweeping vistas of mountains, forest, and ocean can also be a challenge.

"A lot of photographs here have those mountains in the background and I think it's really challenging at times to really inspire people to take a look at Vancouver in a more in-depth way," he said.

"There's a culture here that not many people know about," said Wide. "And we just want to get that out there."

The show opens Thursday at 7 p.m. PT at Beaumont Studios, at 326 West5th Avenueand runs till Sunday.

Their Instagram account, which features work from many different Vancouver photographers, is @vancitystreetcollective.