The offspring of one of the subjects pictured in this historical Vancouver photo writes:
"This picture was taken on Granville Street in the summer of 1947. On the left is my mother, Shirley Oliver at age 19 and her friend Katherine Wray. Shirley was born in Alberta but came to Vancouver as a young girl after her father died. Her mother moved the family to Vancouver at that time. Shirley is now 85 years old and living in Victoria with one of her daughters. Shirley married John Brasseur in Vancouver and had 4 daughters and now has 8 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren."
The story behind the man who captured this photo? Well, 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. Photo negatives of Foncie’s images do not exist. He destroyed most of them when he retired. Until recently there was no central archive or collection.
Documentary filmmaker Melanie Wood and British Columbia’s Knowledge Network changed that by bringing these photographs together – collecting them from albums around the province and giving them a public home online and in the film Foncie's Corner. The photos continue to stream in and Melanie shares them with us regularly so we can share them here on our blog.
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.
