Just after David Carey moved from Winnipeg to Port Moody five years ago, his adult son told him about a small fishing village in Richmond called Finn Slough.
Carey was fascinated to see the place — “the last kind of shanty area of B.C.,” he said — that’s home to about 30 residents who live in wooden houses on the Fraser River, floating and on stilts.
Carey returned to the marshy area another five times with his camera to capture the ramshackle cabins and objects that caught his eye.
And, at home, he miniaturized his images — even recreating the shadows — via PhotoShop and dropped his cabins around his condo, reimagining how its occupants would feel with their new indoor views: on a couch, inside laundry drum, in the bathroom, for example.
“i wanted to isolate [the cabins] in some way and appreciate them as sculptures on their own,” he said.
On Friday, Carey will debut his fanciful photo series, titled Old Shacks - New Context, in his first show at Place des Arts, in the Coquitlam venue’s Leonore Peyton Salon.
The concept of scaling down objects and removing them from their natural setting isn’t new for Carey.
A former computer programmer who holds a master’s degree in photography from Bard College in New York, Carey extracted pieces of classical art and superimposed his images around the home for a series called Appropriated Art. And, in Animals, he dreamt up a project that saw children’s toy animals come to life and playing around his condo.
Recently, Carey finished another offbeat work called Gnomes of Port Moody, in which the forest creatures take part in special events around town.
The opening reception for Old Shacks - New Context — as well as Xanthe Kittson’s photography display, Myths — is on March 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Place des Arts (1120 Brunette Ave., Coquitlam). Call 604-664-1636 or visit placedesarts.ca. Both exhibits are up until April 27.