Turn the lens on renting! We lent them cameras. Here are their stories
Elise Stolte | CBC News | Posted: March 8, 2022 9:06 PM | Last Updated: January 2, 2023
Where do you feel you belong? Do you like moving or dream of settling down?
Hey Calgary! Did you know more than a quarter of us are renting at any one time?
Yep. That's why CBC Calgary set out to turn the lens on renting. We signed up 10 Calgary residents who rent — from all across the city — lent them cameras and gathered every two weeks to share the stories and photos.
Is their story similar to yours?
Watch for more personal photo stories throughout the fall!
Catch the photos in person
Memorial Park Library, Calgary Public Library
Photo installation on site from Jan. 4 to Jan. 23
Central Library, Calgary Public Library
Photo installation on site on Jan. 23 to Feb. 6
Thanks also to previous hosts — Calgary Transit (Marlborough station), YMCA (Brookfield Residential in Seton), Westbrook Mall and the Genesis Centre!
Tell us your story
This specific photo project is over. But we're going to keep writing about renting and housing in Calgary and we want your insight!
If you rent or own, especially on a tight budget, what do you think we should write about next?
Add your cellphone number below to share your story. It's confidential. Unsubscribe any time.
About the project
Community photographers? That's right. At CBC Calgary, we want to support community members to tell their own stories, and we're experimenting with many different ways to do that.
At these photography workshops, we hired community members to document their lives and gave training with photojournalist Ose Irete. We're sharing their stories, and it also gave our newsroom the opportunity to listen more closely to what it's like to rent right now. We'll be using that insight in our ongoing reporting.
Also? Now we own these cameras and we want to keep putting them to use. If you have an idea for a different topic we should explore together, send an email to producer Elise Stolte at elise.stolte@cbc.ca.