Sophie Evelyn

Stephanie Chan January 30, 2018

2018 began with new babies! Back to Back babies for people I know from back in highschool who happen to be friends and live in neighbouring condos overlooking beautiful False Creek. I love how life comes full circle. I love how highschool is a petri dish of hormones, bad decisions, blind immaturity, and closed-mindedness, that nobody can see who and how the future might bring people back together. I guess this isn't necessarily true of all experiences, but I love that it is mine. I love being able to re-enter the lives of those with whom I share history (great or small), see who they have grown to be and witness the love for their young families spill out like liquid gold. It's a beautiful thing to be vulnerable. I love connecting with people and I love being a part of so many people's special moments. There is so much beauty in how we live day by day, in just who we are, in our humanity.

A few special moments with little sister Sophie and Mama Jess.

Baby Wren

Stephanie Chan January 23, 2018

My last family session of 2017 was with a sweet trio I met through my cousin Nik. They moved up the road and across the Tsawwassen/Point Roberts border into a sweet little rancher to start this new period of their lives. Like us, they moved into a new place with a new baby and renovations to be had. This pushed our newborn session to a 3 months old session which, honestly, was just as delicious. At 3 months, new Mamas have developed a system and babies have plumped up into juicy morsels asking to be bitten all over...

I met them in their new home on a beautiful sunny afternoon the first week of December. Everyone was in a cheery mood, including little Wren who was all big shiny eyes and bubbly gurgles of laughter. It's hard to know these days are gone for me. After waiting what seemed a lifetime for babies, I have somehow already birthed 3 and they are all no longer these tiny helpless creatures covered in down with sweet breath. It is a wonderful thing to be able to revisit this preciousness through my work and I am so grateful to pour my hindsight into creating memories that will shine through the foggy memories as they grow older.

A select few from this warm cozy collection...

Abandoned X: Amercian

Stephanie Chan January 21, 2018

Another fun event out in Downtown Vancouver was the Opening Reception for photographer Antonia Jane Allan. Her show, Abandoned X: American, took place at MakeShift Spaces, a pop-up space dedicated to helping small businesses, artists, and speakers to achieve exposure.

It's been quite a while since I've attended an art show (my last gallery visit was at the VAG whom was hosting the dinner conference I was shooting...) and I am pretty sure that checking out more art is on my TO DO list for 2018. Antonia's scenes were rich in colour and textures. Abandoned places never lose their creepy interest. Seeing past lives decay and their spaces be left vulnerable to mother nature reminds us of our own temporary stay here. When we are gone, what is left behind of us? I've started reading becasue 2018 is also the year that I am trying to exchange scrolling for digesting actual physical books. One line I read the other night from The Essex Serpent is quite a fitting description for this Abandoned collection:

"All that is solid melts into air ... whole empires are brought down by nothing but ivy and time."

So very true.

More gallery shows and more books. 2018.

WILL ON ICE

Stephanie Chan January 19, 2018

The end of the year included a few events out in the city. It was a great opportunity to shoot in new spaces and escape the bubble of Tsawwassen. I arrived early to set up, enjoyed a nice chat with Lindsay Elliott in her cozy office, and arrived back to find that my buddy Mike from our ECIAD days, works for this company! It was a lovely surprise to catch up with him and his husband Ryan before photographing the evening. A few photos from this fun-loving group of creatives tearing it up during their year end Holiday Party at The Emerald.

Holiday 2017 Moments

Stephanie Chan January 17, 2018

It's that time of the year where I scramble to catch up to all the December work that got lost in the depths of Christmas and New Year's only to collide with re-settling back into our regular school and work schedule. Thank you to this year's Holiday Session Crew for allowing me to create some very sweet and very hilarious and very memorable moments of you and your loved ones to look back on as the years go by. I hope every enjoyed the last weeks of 2017 and that 2018 has already brought about some refreshing energy and excitement!

A few of many favourite moments from this year's Holiday Sessions...

“For what it’s worth... it’s never too late, or in my case too early,
to be whoever you want to be.
There is no time limit. Start whenever you want.
You can change or stay the same.
There are no rules...

We can make the best of the worst of it.
I hope you make the best of it.
I hope you see things that startle you.
I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before.
I hope you meet people who have a different point of view.

I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not,
I hope you have the courage to start over again.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Good words to keep in mind for 2018