Homeless in Vancouver: Taking photos when I’m high is fun

The above photo was taken from the lofty height of about two storeys, looking north from the rooftop parking atop the Toys “Я” Us on West Broadway.

I’ve taken several photos from here—it’s accessible 24 hours a day.

Naturally I take most of my photos where I spend the majority of my time: at street level.

I’ve managed to take a few photos from the slightly higher vantage point of two floors above ground level. And at least one shot was taken from a third storey balcony.

The quest for a higher truth

I do think the greatest opportunities for interesting photography are found at street-level—up close and personal—where the people are.

But a city writ large also offers interesting views—less personal but potentially more breathtaking—if only a person can get far enough above the madding crowd to see them.

While I look for opportunities to get high, altitude-wise, I find it’s not an easy proposition in the Fairview neighbourhood, where height is a yardstick, so to speak, of wealth.

The tallest vantage points are  either office buildings or condominiums—off limits to to the likes of me.

There is one four-storey house-turned-office space I’ve been looking at. It has accessible stairs on the north face nearly to the roof.

A friend of mine who slept rough for a couple of months on the third-floor landing said the view was incredible.

There’s one tiny little crow’s nest of landing above that. Boy, but don’t I want to see the view from up there!