From 1934 to 1979, street photographer Foncie Pulice set up his camera on Vancouver city sidewalks and snapped candid shots of people strolling by. For almost half a century, he took thousands of photos, unwittingly capturing moments in time, the history of a city, and the lives of British Columbians.
Now documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network are bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until now there was no central archive or collection.
Some thoughts from the owner of this 1940's Foncie photo: This photo is from my collection. The back is stamped "Famous Pictures Metropolitan Stores 153 W. Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C." The women are wearing tags which say "Women's Auxiliary I.W.A-C.I.O." It looks to be a union protest of the late 1940s. Does anyone have any information about this?
This is a story about Vancouver, about British Columbia, and about it’s people ... so they need your help. Visit Knowledge.ca/FonciesCorner to add your photos and stories to the collection.
We're sharing a couple of Foncie photos here on V.I.A. each week leading up to the premiere of the documentary film being released in the summer. Share your memories (or the ones you find in your parents' and grandparents' archives) and become a part of Vancouver’s history!
Some thoughts from the family who submitted this 1967 Foncie photo: May Wasko, Feb. 1967. Back of the photo stamped "FONCIES FOTOS 656 Robson St. Vancouver 2, B.C."
