The 2018 Capture Photography Festival officially opened today, and opportunities for artistic engagement are boundless! This year's fest is packed with outstanding artworks—collages, prints, group shows, film and digital photography—and features both local and international artists. Festival exhibitions can be found in dozens of galleries and community spaces, extending across the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Metro Vancouver). So how do you pick what to see, and where to go? Don't worry, SAD's got you covered. We've compiled a list of exhibitions and events as starting points, to curb your festival-going anxiety. You're welcome!

The Blue Hour
Joi T. Arcand, Kapwani Kiwanga, Colin Miner, Grace Ndiritu, Kara, Uzelman
April 6 - June 24 (Opening reception: April 5, 7:00pm - 9:30pm)
Contemporary Art Gallery

Showcasing Canadian and international artists, this feature has been slotted as the festival launch exhibition and is sure to be a hot ticket show! “The Blue Hour extends from [a] radical premise to rethink our assumptions about the photograph’s relationship to time... and acts as a proposition to consider the futurity of the photographic image. The exhibition’s title makes reference to the brief period of twilight at dawn and dusk when the linearity of time appears to hover in a state of suspension.” Sounds super intriguing, if you ask us.

I moved to 2756 on that street since 2016
Charlotte Yao
April 13 - May 13 (Opening reception: April 13, 7:00pm - 9:00pm)
R Space

Yao's latest work speaks to the cultural position of immigrant persons, particularly that of her own family. “This series of photographic installations unfolds the myth of a detached citizen within this multicultured landscape. While she remains intimate with the subject matter, Yao borrows installation techniques from museum displays to present an archaeological study of the subject matter. This exhibition encourages an objective analysis of the fractured individual who undergoes immigration pressures.”

Objects of My Affection
Jeff Downer, Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes
April 12 - May 12 (Opening reception: April 12, 7:00pm - 11:00pm)
CSA Space

The affectionately mundane and the everyday oddity find a place in the work of Downer and Kriangwiwat Holmes. “At first glance, through the conventions of photographic sculptures in their broadest sense, Downer and Holmes both play with the relationship between the photographic image and their modes of presentation. Using primarily mass-produced, run-of-the-mill household objects as materials, both artists are concerned with the balance between subjects and the objects that confine them.”

I Was a Teenage Skateboarder in the '90s
Group exhibition
April 8 - April 15 (Opening reception: April 7, 6:00pm - 10:00pm)
The Pipe Shop

Everyone knows that Vancouver hosts a hearty community of skateboarders, and this group exhibition (curated by Ben Stoddard) nods at its roots. Featuring photographs taken by Grant Brittain, Jody Morris, Ed Templeton, and others, I Was a Teenage Skateboarder in the '90s takes a look at Canada's skateboarding culture as it was experienced firsthand. Plus! You can tag along for curator-guided tours of the work. Very cool.

Requiem for Mirrors and Tigers
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa
February 22 - April 21
grunt gallery

Ramírez-Figueroa's work has already been on display for a few weeks, but if you haven't seen it already, now's your chance. Mixing performance and video works, the show is sure to be strange and affecting in spades. Also, we trust grunt gallery curator/director Glenn Alteen's judgement—he did win the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, after all.

Cover to Cover
Ho Tam
April 3 - May 27 (Opening reception: April 7, 7:00pm - 9:00pm)
Richmond Art Gallery

If you live south of Vancouver's core, this is the exhibition for you. “Canadian artist Ho Tam interrogates the mediated construction of public persona, revealing diverse facets of the self through a selection of photo, video, artist books, and magazines spanning his career. The exhibition deconstructs his recent book works, displaying selected pages and images on the gallery walls.”

Witnessed
Christine Germano
April 6 - May 11 (Opening reception: April 6, 7:00pm - 9:00pm)
Gallery 1515

Christine Germano has long been documenting the sacred ceremonies of the Kwakwaka’wakw people of Alert Bay, on the northwest coast of BC. After the passing of “Kwakwaka’wakw artist, legend, activist, and icon” Beau Dick in March 2017, Germano's photographs gained a new significance, as testament to the strength and resilience of Dick and his community.

No Where Now Here
Christian Nicolay
April 17 - May 5 (Opening reception: April 20, 6:00pm - 9:00pm)
Kimoto Gallery

This show looks simultaneously uncanny and politically resonant. “No Where Now Here explores how cultural landscapes are increasingly becoming criss-crossed and blurred due to globalization, shifting borders, and the current migration crisis. What are our perceptions of borders, boundaries, and shared habitats in today’s global climate?”

Open City
Sally Buck
March 31 - April 29
Van Galleries (see vangalleries.com for exhibition times and locations)

"It’s with [a] two-toned interest in pragmatism and idealism that Sally Buck exhibits photographs of Vancouver women in protest." That's all we need to read—say no more. We'll be there.

Interspace
Birthe Piontek, Fei Disbrow
April 12 - May 19 (Opening reception: April 12, 6:00pm - 8:00pm)
Gallery Jones

In our opinion, Birthe Piontek consistently puts on great Capture Photo Fest shows. This year looks to be no different. “Both Birthe Piontek and Fei Disbrow introduce a break in the sequence of space and time as presented in the photograph. Essential objective information is hidden, omitted, or replaced. Instead the space between the well-crafted elements presented becomes essential to the aesthetic experience, like the story told by a scratch in the surface.” Count us in!

Well, there you have it. A list of ten Capture Photography Festival highlights to get you started down the path to amazing artwork. See one, see them all, or completely disregard our picks and choose your own! Any which way you slice it, this year's festival will be a delight.

Be sure to also check out our events page for more choice Capture Photography Festival listings! See you there!