A local photographer used his recent exhibition at the Ottawa School of Art to bring together a neighbourhood.
Street, Chinatown,created by Ryan Seyeau, was on display from Sept. 15 to 22 at the art school’s downtown campus.
The photos showcased the Chinatown Blossoms project, an initiative run by the Ottawa School of Art and the Chinatown Business Improvement Area, where colourful murals were created around Chinatown.
Resource co-ordinator at the Ottawa School of Art, Claudia Gutierrez, says the Ontario Arts Council saw the success of the program and contributed to create the photo exhibit.
Gutierrez wanted to show “all of the community and how interesting and eclectic Chinatown actually is.”
Seyeau says he found creating the exhibit a challenge.
“I find Chinatown is very visually chaotic,” says Seyeau.
But the chaos led to unexpected connections, such as with a Chinatown shopkeeper, featured in one of the photos.
“I photographed him, and he came rushing out of his shop, all smiles,” Seyeau recalled. “He told me, ‘One moment’ and he ran to the back of his shop and he brought back a D800 [camera] box and all these lenses.”
It turned out that the shopkeeper was a photography enthusiast himself.
“We shared a common bond,” Seyeau said, “even though we didn’t speak the same language.”