A local photographer is doing her part to show some Ladner pride.
With Pride events cancelled throughout the Lower Mainland and beyond due to COVID-19, Emily reached out to the LGBTQ+ community through the Ladner’s Landing Facebook group earlier this month with an idea for a Pride-themed photo shoot.
“I wasn’t sure if anyone would take me up on my offer when I put it out there, but I was really happy with the response and the results,” says Emily, who has packaged the photos and accompanying stories in an online project she’s dubbed “Ladner is Proud.”
It can be found at: https://ladnerpride.mypixieset.com/.
Emily says the impetus for the project was to give members of Ladner’s LGBTQ+ community a voice, but it also serves to raise awareness among the wider population.
She took free portraits of 10 individuals, couples and families, many at the rainbow bench out front of the Ladner Leisure Centre. She says it was a diverse group, and included a couple of people she terms as allies.
“This project was created to highlight the queer community in Ladner and their diversity,” she states on her website. “Our hope is that this will show those who are closeted, feeling alone or just proud to be LGBTQ+ that in Ladner, you are accepted.”
The 26-year-old amateur photographer believes the community is generally accepting but, like many others, still has some learning to do.
“I want to help people understand,” she says. “It can be hard for people to come out, but if they get support when they do, it makes all the difference. That support means so much.”
In her post on Ladner’s Landing, Emily says we all have a duty to understand and protect our neighbours, so she’s hoping that by sharing photos and stories of members of Ladner’s LGBTQ+ community she can further that awareness.
“There are people that feel they can’t come out because they might not get that support, so it would be great if we could change that.”
