The Magazine School 2010 Bringing outstanding writing, design and photography to the classroom The Western Magazine Awards Foundation

An annual awards program recognizing excellence in Western Canadian editorial work, and design. westernmagazineawards.ca TMS The Magazine School is a project of the Western Magazine Awards Foundation. It provides classroom material to writing and design instructors and professors. Western Magazine Awards Foundation

Best Photo – People & Portraiture Robert Karpa (Venturi + Karpa) “Saving Skid Row” The Beaver The 2010 Western Magazine Awards

 Colin Way, Sheldon Popiel, Avenue  Venturi + Karpa, Saving Skid Row, The Beaver  Gregory Crow, Rees’s Thesis, Vancouver Magazine  Gregory Crow, Stand & Deliver, Vancouver Magazine  Mark Mushet, Chris Jensen/Velo-City, Vancouver Review Finalists: Best Photo - People & Portraiture

●In 2010, renamed Canada’s History Magazine ●Published by the Canada’s History Society ●Based in Winnipeg ●Circulation: 45, 000 ●canadashistory.cacanadashistory.ca And the winner is…

It begins with art director Michel Groleau Montreal-based art director of Canada’s History Magazine  Got the job after seeing the job posting on Masthead website and sending his electronic portfolio, then flying to Winnipeg for an interview.

“The first thing I do when I start to work on a layout is to read the story.” – Michel Groleau Considering the story idea

“A good title will make the reader want to read the story and will also make my job easier, and the title for this one was very evocative.” – Michel Groleau “Saving Skid Row” as a title

Title Saving Skid Row Deck The old buildings of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have a checkered past. Is their shady heritage worth saving? By Christopher Pollon Title works with story deck

“I went to CAPIC (capic.org/news.html) to find a Vancouver photographer. After looking at a couple of portfolios, I called Robert Karpa and I explained the idea... I gave Robert the phone number of the person (Jim Green) he had to shoot.”capic.org/news.html – Michel Groleau Getting started from Montreal

●Website: venturikarpa.co m venturikarpa.co m ●Blog: venturikarpa.tumblr.com /post/ /contri butors-bio-on-v-k-in-aq- magazine-we-shot venturikarpa.tumblr.com /post/ /contri butors-bio-on-v-k-in-aq- magazine-we-shot Meet Venturi + Karpa

“After reading the story we decided that the hook for it visually was a ‘circus of pain.’ “The Downtown Eastside has a very circus-like atmosphere if you know where to go down there, but it is also a very painful place with lots of crime and drug addiction.” – Robert Karpa “Circus of pain”

There is only one portrait in this story. It is of Jim Green, housing activist. Choosing Jim Green

“Born in Alabama, he came to Vancouver to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. He was introduced to the downtown when he worked as a longshoreman in the 1970s. He was for a time a resident of the Patricia Hotel.” – Christopher Pollon, “Saving Skid Row” Understanding Jim Green

“For nearly forty years, Green has battled greedy slumlords, local governments, and developers bent on gentrifying the downtown. In the lead- up to the 1986 world’s fair in Vancouver, Green earned the title ‘Khadafi of the Downtown Eastside’ for his uncompromising approach. Expo 86 was a disaster for low-income residents, many of whom were evicted to make way for higher-priced tourist hotels.” – Christopher Pollon, “Saving Skid Row” More on Jim Green

Previous stock images of Green

“With the portrait of Jim Green we scouted various locations around the Downtown Eastside and found a suitable gritty-looking back alley.” – Robert Karpa Scouting locations

“The Jim Green portrait was shot in a back alley with a softbox and large battery pack to power the strobe. “I did a lot of colour work on it to give it a slightly more vintage look to match his style.” – Robert Karpa Technical aspects of the shoot

“We left it up to him (Jim Green) to wear what he wanted to and, being the unique individual he is, he did not disappoint.” – Robert Karpa Styling the subject

Winning photograph

“After a week, Robert sent me a link where I could look at his pictures. I did a first selection and started to work on the layout.” – Michel Groleau Working from Vancouver to Montreal

“The opening picture was of [Jim Green] in front of a wall of bricks, so that gave me the idea of looking for a (letter) type that looked like graffiti... After that it was pretty much choosing the best picture that looked like the old ones.” – Michel Groleau Opening page

“Jessica Venturi and I work as a team, we bounce ideas off of each other and take turns shooting and we each get different reactions from the subject. We are creative and intuitive and although we do plan things out we are also very ‘in the moment’ during the shoot and just flow with it.” – Robert Karpa One last point

“I think the main thing is that the art director hired us for our talent and had the courage to let us just do what we do best. And he had a publisher and editor who would back him up, which is important for all creative people.” – Robert Karpa Working with the magazine’s editorial staff

The Magazine School is a project of the Western Magazine Awards Foundation, which acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage toward project costs. The Magazine School content was prepared with the skilful assistance of Janice Paskey and students Sarah Kitteringham and Terence Yung from Mount Royal University, and with the generous co-operation of the winners of the 2010 Western Magazine Awards. Credits We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) of the Department of Canadian Heritage towards our project costs.