The contrast is all around you. In Vancouver, urban development is at a magnitude only an Olympic Games can generate (Hello, Beijing). With mass urban revival comes a youthfulness seen through Vancouver’s chic shops and cafes, South Granville’s best restaurants, and exhibitions in hotels like Dina Goldstein‘s “Fallen Princesses“. From the artist:

The project was inspired by Goldstein’s observation of three-year-old girl. As a new mother she has been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Disney princesses and their desire to emulate them. The stories almost always have a sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess.

Goldstein’s Fallen Princesses however takes a cool, but humorous look at these fairy tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict: “happily ever after” is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues.

As a young girl growing up abroad, Goldstein was not exposed to fairy tales. “These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of fairy tales. I explored the original Brothers Grimm stories and found that they had very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney’s perfect princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues.”

The exhibition goes on until January 2010. Here’s an interesting perspective on one of the photographs, brought to you by Racialicious.

Also, request room 507 on the Gallery Floor of the hotel if you go. There’s a nice view of the Olympic rings in the harbor, seen between two generic condominiums. Watch out for the black sock I left under the bed. And try Miko Sushi across the street. The bartender at the hotel bar said, “Oh, yeah. I hear it’s good. All the hockey players go there.”

Image #2 [via Contexts]

Medina Cafe makes food for people who want to cherish every bite. That’s the type of place I like; a place where I can moan when I take a bite, pause, comment on the bite, think about it, muse over the ingredients and sit. The restaurant – near opiate-loving East Hastings, Gastown and Chinatown – looks like it belongs in DUMBO, but its clientele are distinctly Vancouver, urban, and diverse. I had the “Tortilla” plate. Anna and I also had one waffle each, as an appetizer, with dark chocolate accompanying one and the other with mixed berry compote. Expect a wait every day of the week. And don’t pass up the waffles. Above, Anna orders.

More from the 3652 Days Project

Anna and I braved the Winter storms pummeling Vancouver this week for some sightseeing on New Year’s Day. She didn’t leave the car every time I wanted to photograph something, but I don’t blame her. It was the kind of day room service was created for. New Year’s Eve shots were a little bit better because it wasn’t as wet. Still, grayness isn’t all that bad if you give it a chance.

I intend to upload at least one photograph a day for the next decade. That’s a total of 3,652 photographs (including leap years). I intend to refine any remote style I may have. I’ll stick to digital photography for consistency. Hopefully I can push myself creatively, and with that said, I invite you to critique every single photograph (or photographs) I post. Here’s to rocking the next ten years.

Radiohead’s Kid A released October 2000. Rolling Stone named Kid A album of the decade, but what the hell do they know? I still remember driving down Brand Blvd in Mission Hills, CA, listening to “Optimistic” in my 1996 Camry, pulling over, leaning back and listening. Music changed after that. The angst, movement and influence would forever be warped for me. I no longer needed a mosh-pit to enjoy something. This was groundbreaking.

I’m sitting in the corner of my hotel room at The Listel Hotel in Vancouver, BC clicking away at photos on my flickr photostream. There are 2,334 total images. Some are dull, others stirring, but most are simply digital snippets of days and nights I enjoyed enough to share with the world. A photoshoot with friends, 35mm B&W SLR shots, a man strolling in Berlin, my parents visiting in Mexico City and Jesse being Jesse. These photos all have music attached to them. In my head. No one usually hears any of it. But my favorite is this portrait. Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build A Home” is attached to this one. Everyone knows that. I’m telling you this because I’ve been thinking about “What My Song Of The 2000s Will Be” and photos seem to help me out.

I’ve been scrambling to make sense of this decade. I moved to several cities in the 2000s including Salamanca, Berlin, New York City, Mexico City, West Hollywood and San Francisco. But what’s the point of reminiscing now? I invest enough in nostalgia on a daily basis that all I’m feeling right now are tremors in my brain from neurons blasting away. What will change on Jan 1, 2010? I’ll be in Canada with my fiancee, with my same camera, with my same desire to capture a new city and its people. I’ll discover some new music soon, eat at a new restaurant in a new “up-and-coming” neighborhood. I’ll report back on my findings. And my evenings will end the exact same way they’ve ended for the last 2 1/2 years. Essentially it’s all going to be the same, right?

After considerable brouhaha consisting of playing music very loudly in my hotel room — and pondering over Rayluv’s genius with “Sedatives 2009” — sitting in a trance, and thinking, “I remember exactly where I was the first I heard this song, the special places I played it and the dreams attached to it”, it finally came down to one song… that continues to move me…Yet, there is something that excites me most about this track: what will this music sound like to three generations removed from us? How will I explain this music to my great-grandchildren? Think about it.

P.S. This song came in a close second.

Happy New Year!