Wonderful Color Photographs Document Street Scenes From Between the 1950s and 1970s

Fred Herzog was born in Germany in 1930. Immigrating to Canada in 1952, he took odd jobs wherever he could find them. He rented a place at a rooming house, which is where he met Ferro Shelley Marincowitz, a South African who also happened to be a medical photographer. Herzog had an interest in photography; his camera was one of the few items he brought with him from Germany. Marincowitz encouraged that interest and soon they found a basement suite where they built a darkroom for both of them to share.

Over the next several years, Herzog read about technique, studied other photographers, and spent every spare moment shooting. His friendship with Marincowitz eventually led to getting a job as a medical photographer himself, first at St. Paul’s Hospital, and four years later at the University of British Columbia. Herzog was obsessed with the energy of the city. He was drawn to the neon signs, the colorful cars, the food markets, and billboards. He wanted to capture life as it was, to document the “American dream”. He wasn’t interested in commenting on social policy or expressing an opinion one way or another, just showing reality. This was one of the reasons he used color film. It was the way he saw the city and the way he wanted others to see it.

Herzog has spent decades with his camera in his hand, walking not only the streets of Vancouver, but also San Francisco, Montreal, Seattle, and other major cities. It has only been in the last several years, however, that his work has been recognized by galleries and art critics around the world.

(Photos by Fred Herzog, via Faded + Blurred)