The year 2024 went by in a flash.
But as the impatient moments ran by, they left behind enough light to be caught by cameras big and small – and eventually echoed on the pages of our newspaper.
It’s true what they say: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s especially true in the news business.
For some, an image of Princess Anne commissioning a Navy vessel in North Vancouver honours the value of tradition and evokes the stability that our tie to the British monarchy provides. To others, it’s an unwelcome reminder of an antiquated system that affords undue power by birthright to some and not others.
A restored, painted mural on the wall of the Binning Home in West Van is sure to please the many local lovers of heritage architecture. Yet others would prefer the structure replaced by a residence that takes better advantage of the square footage of the lot.
But we can all agree that a magician spinning a Rubix Cube on his finger is cool. Right? Right??
Looking back at the best photos to land on our pages over the past 12 months, Poquito the Harris’s Hawk made an early appearance in February. His piercing yellow eyes are taken in by handler Katelyn West, who helps to ward off nuisance birds at the North Vancouver Waste Transfer Station.
That portrait was captured by North Shore News ace lensman Paul McGrath, who also took a stunning still of Kung Jaadee, storyteller in residence at North Vancouver City Library in March.
In June, Jane Seyd took a halting wide-angle shot of Alan Bardsley, president of the Old Growth Conservancy Society, passing under a canopy of towering trees among the 1,937 acres of new parkland designated in West Vancouver.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France, I had the honour of speaking with and photographing veteran Harry Greenwood in his Ambleside home. The many medals bestowed to him came at a great cost, as he still shudders at the horrors of war, and what they can inflict on all parts of society.
Reporter Brent Richter is handy with a camera too, as seen in his high-contrast portrait of North Vancouver artist and ventriloquist Don Bryan with the head of Winestein, a dummy he was commissioned to carve.
Submitted from outside our newsroom, we enjoyed the photo of NHL playoff champion Sam Reinhart cradling the Stanley Cup in a golf cart at his home course Capilano Golf and Country Club in West Van. He could have shot 100 that day and you wouldn’t know it from his winning grin.
You can check out all our favourite photos in the gallery atop this page. Thanks for clicking with us.
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