As another 365-some-odd days flew into the memory books, our lenses caught the light from some of the most important things to happen on the North Shore.
The year 2023 started off in a fog, literally, with longtime North Shore News photographer Paul McGrath there to catch some misty frames of a man walking his dog through Indian River Park in January.
April was a rather photogenic month, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visiting Xwmélch’sten (Capilano 5 Reserve) to announce a federal boost in funding for Indigenous health care. Shortly after, North Shore photo whiz Mark Teasdale took some breathtaking wildlife shots of birds feasting on spring blossoms in the Harbourside area.
Food innovation firm Ecoation was featured in April, as its prototypes for growing produce and protein-producing mycelium made it to the finals in the national Deep Space Food Challenge.
A haunting portrait of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Elder Sam George was seen by readers in May, as the survivor released The Fire Still Burns, an unflinching account of the horrors he faced in residential school and how he navigated that trauma in years to come.
Reporter Jane Seyd snapped an uncanny image in June, as Doreen Manuel spoke at the unveiling of a postage stamp that honours her late father, Indigenous leader George Manuel.
As the North Shore’s first wildfire of the year caught flame, water bombers flew overhead, dumping bursts of bright red retardant on the blaze.
In July, reporter Mina Kerr-Lazenby’s photo of Indigenous dancers in vivid regalia – backed by a blue-and-white summer sky – was printed on the front page of our newspaper.
Under the heat of a summer sun, stalwart activist Chris Bolton – known for his drag persona Conni Smudge – threw up the peace sign on the Mountain Highway overpass, as he and a group of counter-protesters celebrated the first Thursday in a year where the bridge was unoccupied by demonstrators who were widely deemed as “hateful.”
As a curious piece of equipment called a “spider excavator” played hero in Lynn Creek to help restore crucial salmon habitat, reporter Brent Richter caught the amazing machine for the Daily Bu – erm, North Shore News.
Preserving the spark to carry on with an artistic pursuit into one’s ninth decade is an inspiration for all to see. Such is the case with Gerda Smith, the 94-year-old dressmaker who fashioned her first show-stopping outfit at age 14.
Contributing journalist Hamid Jafari caught a captivating frame of Bahman Sahami, owner of Nima Library and Bookstore, one of oldest Persian bookstores in Metro Vancouver.
The bright blue and red hues of this year’s Buchanan Bowl football classic were captured by sports photographer extraordinaire Blair Shier in September.
This reporter (Nick Laba) visited West Vancouver’s Elite Piano Studios in November, where I photographed eight-year-old piano prodigy Charlotte Lee, as her delicate but precise digits were guided across the keys by teacher Nick Sergienko.
On Remembrance Day, ranks of cadets lined up on the grass at Victoria Park to honour those who have served in war. Some of the attendees that day collapsed from exhaustion.
And North Vancouver drivers were caught in a traffic crunch later in November as a vacuum truck flipped onto its side near the Mountain Highway interchange, spilling its contents across the roadway, and plugging traffic in both directions.
