'To Me, This is Beautiful'

2/12 "This is one of my favourite photographs in the book. You can see that although this is an untidy room, there's tremendous order in it as well." Gasztonyi took this photo on only his second day at The Cobalt. "When I took this shot I thought, 'Ah! I gotta keep going!' I felt such euphoria when I took that picture. As soon as I hit that button, I felt as if I was taking a drug or something, I felt so good. So I just kept going back. I went once a week, sometimes more, for six years." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

3/12 "The lighting is a bit odd, but that's kinda him. He's a very interesting guy. There are many shots of Dave in the book. You can see he writes notes, like musical notes, on the wall. He wanted me to eat with him, though, he was boiling all these pigs feet on the stove. This room is so dirty that it would just turn your stomach. I had to say, 'Oh, well thanks Dave, but I'm not hungry.'" Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

4/12 "This is an Iranian girl who came down here from university doing a research project, believe it or not. Right now, she's dealing drugs on Hastings Street, all within one year. She was researching the area and got hooked on heroin. I asked if I could take her picture, and she pulled her top up to show me these birds that she just had done. I think it's a lovely shot. She's actually a very young kid, though she doesn't look really young and innocent here." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

5/12 "It's a real gulag -- it's like being in a prison camp, in an Auschwitz. You have prison guards -- the police, the owners of the hotels, the dealers -- these are all persecutors, persecuting people who are ill. One of the reasons people can't leave here is they can't find place to live, places that are as cheap, and the other reason is there are services offered here for the people." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

6/12 "This is Chuck and Erica in their room. Chuck's dead. He died of hepatitis. Erica's still alive, she lives in The Cobalt... they were together for years before he died, in that room." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

7/12 "There are many people in the photographs that were born in Point Grey and Dunbar. There are folks here whose children are teachers, professionals, doctors, lawyers. There are many people in here with post-graduate education." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

8/12 "This is Don. He's 80 years old. He's been living in The Cobalt since 1972. This gal in bed is called Rose, and she's a heroin addict." Gasztonyi explains, "They've been together for about 12 years," originally meeting because they lived down the hall from each other, and eventually "she moved in with him to save money." Don's "not an addict. He looks after her in his room. He's in love with her, and he takes care of her. Rose gives him meaning in his life." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

9/12 "There's a cultural, community essence in these few blocks here. It's home. There's tremendous communication, socialization that goes on here on a daily basis. Whereas, if you go to other areas of town, you don't see as much every day communication: people here are all suffering." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

10/12 "A gentleman in The Cobalt. He's actually a carpenter and earns a living. He comes home from work every day and has a beer and has some crack. He's a really nice guy, he's not a criminal, he doesn't steal, but he thinks he's stronger than the drug. In reality, I've never met anyone that has been able to sustain the habit that he does and work an everyday job." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

11/12 "Everything is here [at Main and Hastings]. Drugs, food, housing, companionship, friendship and relationships." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.

12/12 "I think the Downtown Eastside has been photographed, but incorrectly, and not in enough detail. It hasn't been photographed from the inside. I literally have been in almost every room of The Cobalt. But there are some people who don't want to be photographed, some rooms you can't get into. That's to be expected, I guess." Photo: Gabor Gasztonyi.