My cover page PHOTO

The Photo I have shown here in Black and White is by Alex Waterhouse Hayward!
He shot it at my 4th avenue studio, in 1985, with my quartz( hot!) lights just like the ones used in the 1940's for glamour photography! He also forgot that their casing is burning hot, so when tapping one with his finger to move it, MAY have irrevocably altered his fingerprints! ; P

I DID post a photo credit right on the page with the photo! But, no matter where I put it on the editing page the text showed up across my face on the published page so I removed the credit! I WANT Alex to get ALL the credit for this lovely masterpiece. And here is a link to HIS blog where you will find more of the same(incredible photos) and some delightful writing of his, as well.

http://alexwaterhousehayward.com/blog/2009/05/when-women-were-women-cars-were.html

Blogging Now because ...

Hello and Welcome





I am a photographer (among many other things) who is embarking on writing, producing and directing my first documentary while living on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada. In this blog I will share my process in this realm.

Here is a summary of the documentary story.

Walkover is a documentary, based on the novel WALKOVER, about a woman returning to the Burlesque scene after raising a child. The film reveals first time film maker, Page Turner's relationships with a new generation of Burlesque performers and the homeless women in the neighbourhood where she lives and works. Ms Turner, a photographer and performer, documents her move from the capital city of Victoria and her path of advocacy and activism for the rights of women and children entrenched in poverty in and near downtown Vancouver. She connects and performs with dancers who become her "soldiers" in an outreach army of "pin up girls with a heart" all of whom can identify with the disenfranchisement and judgement that isolates the homeless women they embrace.

"I worked as a bartender and later an exotic dancer and photographer, in the clubs on the downtown east side, in the eighties right up until Expo '86. I remember all the people huddled up outside on the streets after the mass evictions took place to turn rooming houses into tourist hotels. When I saw the same thing happening twenty years later as Vancouver prepares for the Olympics in 2010 I just had to capture it on film and speak out. I have been homeless through the years far too many times myself! I never dreamed I and others like me, a couple of rungs up from women living on the street, would experience homelessness with our families, because we want to rent ( and cannot afford to buy) a home that accepts children!

To expose and explore this pervasive situation of injustice I moved back to the neighbourhood where I was first homeless as a young teenager. Now my son is grown, I have returned to the Burlesque stage and filmed my live Rita Hayworth tribute show to include in this, my first documentary. Performing again and telling my story and the stories of "hidden homeless" women has rallied support and participation, from Burlesque Performers and Musicians alike".

Walkover includes an original Jazz and R and B soundtrack written and performed by Turner's saxophonist son, Sean Winter. The film also features cameo performances by renowned local blues performers at Vancouver's Yale Hotel, THE mecca for local and visiting Blues Artists for over thirty years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzPGAOCk39U

hello it's me!

Hey, Red here!

Your aspiring Dorothy Parker (who?lol) meets Erica Ehm type reporter of life on the edge ... between Gastown and the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver,Canada.

Or, as the manager of my landmark building, The Hotel Europe, says " the gateway between heaven and hell". My artist neighbours say, "It is debatable

which ... is truly which!"