Photo essay 1
Church in the street
The presence of the church is undeniable in the streets of Victoria. One of the principal provider of services for homeless people are the different Christian groups such as the Anglican and the Evangelical's. The churches are present through a wide range of programs including supported or transitional housing, soup kitchen, hygiene facilities, professional training, thrift shops, food banks, health and dental services, emergency shelter, advocacy and “spiritual” support.


Several preachers promote Christianity within the homeless community and it seems that their message is being heard. I found the topic interesting to report: I went to different events provided by the church, visited its supported housing, met some priests and reverends active in the community, and had homeless people speaking out about their faith. As much as I disagree with the institution, I observe that for many people on the street the Christian faith provides a sense of hope.


Photo Essay 2

The Right to Sleep

Litigation concerning the right to sleep in public spaces is before the court pitting the municipality of Victoria against 70 demonstrators. The litigation provokes a social and judicial debate that could have consequences from coast to coast.

In October 2005, 70 people built a camp in Cridge Park in downtown Victoria. They wanted to protest against the authorities’ repressive attitude towards those who are obligated to sleep in public spaces.

Invoking the bylaw that prohibits loitering and building shelters in public spaces during the night, the city asked the court for a permanent injunction to rid the park of its inhabitants. The lawyers representing the campers argued that it was unconstitutional to prohibit homeless people from sleeping in public spaces when they don’t have anywhere they can legally sleep.

David Arthur Johnston, one of the demonstrators of Cridge Park, has contributed to the media excitement, by repeatedly disobeying the authorities’ directives. After many sanctions and imprisonments, David Arthur Johnston has persisted in sleeping at the St. Ann’s Academy, a provincial building. David Arthur Johnston was almost in a coma when he held a hunger strike for thirty six days during one of his internments last summer.


The city lost its case in October 2008 but has filed for an appeal. As it is, homeless people in Victoria are given constitutional protection against the bylaw. Until the decision of the appeal, they are allowed to build shelters and sleep in public spaces from 7pm to 7am.

Activist movements and organizations that help homeless people attentively follow the cause that could have important repercussions; the ultimate defeat of the municipality could lead to a precedent applicable all across Canada.


For this assignment, I went to different protests and events related to the issue of "The Right to Sleep" and interviewed several people involved. I also photographed authorities’ intervention (some violent) towards homeless people.

I found the activists to be very inspiring. They proved that solidarity and commitment to an idea can have a concrete affect and protesting the non-sense within the system is absolutely necessary to improve the society. I’m really happy with the story for the people I met. My main problem when doing the assignment was that I didn’t have any plan or scenario; I just went to the events without having a precise idea of the story I wanted to tell; I ended up with hundreds of pictures and a headache when it came to choosing only 5! I learned that it is not necessary to work so much on a story; it is more important to have a clear vision of it from the start, but yet, be flexible.



Photo Essay 3
Needle Exchange

The History of Victoria's Needle Exchange:

http://harmreductionvictoria.ca/?q=node/2

For me, the controversy around the Needle Exchange was very interesting to cover and I was excited to do a story about it. But since I had a very short time to do the assignment (I was given only half an hour with an outreach worker who works for the organization) and that I was asked to not photograph the clients, the result of this story is far from being satisfactory. I know that that kind of constraint is very common in journalism but it was still frustrating