By Eve Digby
Shot on a Pentax Espio on Fujifilm 200, 35mm.
![](https://thelookonline.dcu.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/treeeeeeeee2-1024x685.jpg)
These pictures are taken in Vancouver, Canada where I spent my last Summer. The first is taken in a
conservatory, in the middle of a park and it was of my view towards the roof. You can kind of see the
structure of the conservatory in the background. It was a very peculiar dome shape. The last, is of
the room my two friends and I shared in Vancouver, with the focal point being the mirror with the
sign saying ‘free’ stuck to it. I had found it one day on my way home from work with that exact sign
on it, on the side of a street and it quickly became our communal mirror for makeup and trying on
outfits. I related ‘Your city gave me this’ to my first picture as I found a new sense of wonder while in
Vancouver.
![](https://thelookonline.dcu.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-11.png)
I rekindled my childhood joy to be in nature and appreciated all the greenery and
wilderness I saw, as the street we lived on was quite industrial. Vancouver definitely heightened my
interest in the outdoors and appreciation for the quietness of the countryside.
![](https://thelookonline.dcu.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/image-10-1.png)
More obviously in my final photograph, ‘Your city gave me this’ was the mirror itself. In Canada, I
was shocked by the communal mentality within our neighbourhood. It was extremely common to
see piles of books/toys/clothes out for free on nearby lawns or paths. Perhaps it had something to
do with the growing homelessness issue in Canada, but I found it very interesting how people did
not care where their items were going, as long as they were getting a new life. In Ireland, you could
never do that because young teenagers might destroy the items or people would take everything
due to greed. In Vancouver, however, there was a take ‘what you would like and leave the rest’
mentality.
![](https://thelookonline.dcu.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/free2-1.png)
And so, on that walk home, the mirror was needed in our house and we considered it our hidden
treasure. I contemplated bringing it home to Ireland but in reality, it was very low quality. I just
wanted an excuse to hold onto the memories I had now attached to it. The girls and I spent
countless hours in front of that mirror, and I guess, at the end of the day, what Vancouver gave me
was the memories of my summer. The mirror was just a vessel for personification. Nevertheless, that
FREE sign stayed stuck on there and I’d fix it no matter how many times it fell off. I parted ways with
my beloved mirror when I headed back home, I left it in that room. Hopefully it can be the vessel
through which many more memories are made. I took what I needed and left the rest.