On Vancouver’s Walls, Signs of the Times

First, a note from the editors: We are fortunate to publish the pandemic documentation of Joshua Berson. You’ll find his pictures accompanying many of our stories. You may recall, for example, this photo essay of his on a day in the life of a paramedic. Daily, Berson travels the Greater Vancouver region to make new photographs, depositing them in a digital folder that we eagerly crack open to find what powerful images await.

“We will be talking about this moment for years to come and will desperately need solid images to show how we survived COVID-19,” says Berson. “This has been my mantra — to document myriad ways that we are coping, from frontline workers to people on the street. That is my motivation to get out every day and find different perspectives on how people are managing.”

One of the ways people are coping and helping others to manage is by painting signs and murals on the walls lining Vancouver’s downtown streets. We gathered some of those photographed by Berson and share them here.

“Vandals are exploiting empty stores by smashing windows and looting — and then beautiful community-supportive signs appear on the plywood covering the store-fronts,” notes Berson.

“People in Vancouver, fearful of the virus spreading in the Downtown Eastside and surroundings, are getting a glimpse into the beauty and the love that exists in this community.”