I’ve dipped in and out of these photos for quite some time. In fact, it is just over 1 year since I took these photos and I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to put them on here. Nevertheless, here they are alongside the story of how we happened upon this place and the brief time we spent there.
We came upon Finn Slough after a chance meeting with a fellow photographer who we bumped into while exploring Deep Cove in the North Shore area. We’d been ambling around with our cameras – mine a Pentax 67ii and Erica’s a Contax 645 – when another photographer approached us to talk about our cameras. It turned out that she also shoots film so we had a chat with her before she happened to tell us about a place she’d just been to, called Finn Slough. It’s an old boardwalk community not far from Steveston with around 30 residents living in houses that either sit on stilts or float in the water. The history of the community dates back to the late 1800’s when it was founded by the Finnish people who settled there and lived as fishermen. We talked to one lady who lives there who told us that within the 30 people residing there today, there are a few remaining who are descendents of the original settlers there. It was interesting to talk to someone who actually lives in this eclectic community, and in a similarly eclectic fashion our conversation went from talking about the current residents and on to hummingbirds, the harsh temperatures on the east coast, the various debris and detritus she pulls from the water (including a stiletto shoe), and a few other random topics including (apparently!) how many people British Columbians smoke pot! But anyway, we managed to squeeze in this chat alongside a few rolls of film just before the sun went down. I’m so glad we made the trip to see it! These were shot on my Pentax 67ii using Kodak Portra 800. Lab: Canadian Film Lab
