Steven Shearer, Untitled, 2020, (courtesy of the artist and Capture Photography Festival)
The Capture Photography Festival, on this month in Vancouver as a showcase for lens-based art, has run into controversy.
In question were seven images by internationally known artist Steven Shearer posted on billboards along a popular walking and cycling path. They showed people sleeping or resting, but some viewers complained and the works were taken down.
"I genuinely think that some people were quite disturbed," Emmy Lee Wall, the festival's executive director, told CBC News. "They said that the images were horrible, they were terrible, that they made them want to vomit."
Capture released a statement on April 6 about the controversy.
The festival, the largest lens-based art festival in Western Canada, features public art displays throughout the city as well as a virtual speaker series, artists talks and guided tours..
It also draws attention to photo-based shows at participating galleries, including Whose Chinatown? – a look at Canadian Chinatowns through the lens of historical and contemporary artworks – and close magic – a solo exhibition by Erika DeFreitas about loss and impermanence.
Source: CBC News, Capture Photography Festival