Citizen journalism is nothing new to our world of available technology. It has become second nature for people to capture their experience, events or news in their environments on their phones, cameras or computers. We live in a world were journalism is an action and all of citizens have stepped forth into that call to action.

However, this is the first Olympic Games of its kind were the real stories that are happening are not necessarily the ones that are showcased by the sponsor holding media companies. The internet with its free social platforms of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Wordpress and Tumblr have cascaded into the landscape from which fans are acquiring their in-real-time coverage of culture, events and community of the Olympic Games.

Static Photography has been out in Vancouver covering the very broad spectrum of events that are occurring in the city upon the official arrival of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. From the opening ceremony, to press conferences, to torch relays and event demonstrations, Kris Krüg has been covering these events and capturing fans and media covering these same events for themselves.

Photographic Recap of Citizen Journalism that is present at the Olympic Games:

Citizen journalists John Biehler and Dave Olson hold up the media accreditation badge for the True North Media House. TNMH is an independent media house for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and provides media accreditation to citizen journalists of all types.

Another independent media house that has arisen during the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games if the W2 Woodwards Media + Culture House. This independent media house, located in the DTES, is providing space for many Vancouver media outlets like the Tyee and CBC. It is also providing space to organizations, like the Legal Observers, that are providing community services during the month of February.

Rebecca Bollwitt, aka Miss604, is a podcaster, blogger and all around social media maven. She has been actively covering the Vancouver Winter Olympics for her ver popular Vancouver community site.

There is only one official media accreditation for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, but since there are many more media organizations that are covering the games that just the official one, other forms of accreditation have formed. Robert Scales who runs the site VancouverAccess is holding up his British Columbia International Media Centre media accreditation badge.

Often times as citizen journalists, our main vantage point is through the lens or view finder of our camera. We see the world as it is captured in documentation. Here is an HDR shot of the a 2010 Cultural Olympiad media installation called ‘Fire with Fire’ by Isabelle Hoyeur. This installation is live at the w2 Woodwards Media + Culture House for the entire duration of the games.

There are many people who actively involved in citizen journalism and can recognize their actions as such. The real revolution is happening within the everyday community members, fans, and general public who are recording their lives in digital documentation and then sharing it on the internet for their friends, family or the world to see.

For the past year and half, Andrew Lavigne has been documenting the story of social media as it plays into the preparation of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the city of Vancouver as whole. Produced by Jon Ornoy and titled ‘With Glowing Hearts’, this documentary tells the digital evolution of many stories including W2 Woodward’s, True North Media House and Fearless City.

The gentlemen was a participant of an anti-olympic rally that convened at the Vancouver Art Gallery on the same day as the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. There were many cameras at the rally, with everyone wanting to document their direct experience with the massive gathering.

In the same light that a protestor might want to capture their experience in a retrospective format, the opposite side, the police department, utilizes the same tactic to work against the protestors. Whether it is for visual documentation for a later catalogue or a later examination, the police department are acting in part of citizen journalists and creating media for their own community.

Often times like a silent third party, the citizen journalist can be caught in the line of cross-fire in such events as demonstrations and protests. The symbiotic relationship of the police, protestors, and photographers can be a dance of fierce neutrality. Here Michael Tippet of NowPublic and our studio manager at Static Photography, Danielle Sipple, are seen in the middle of a large demonstration.

Our first response, during any kind of tragedy, is to immediately share this knowledge with the ones we know. Our instant accessibility to sharing via our cell phones is a valuable resource. Here the public is shown immediately sharing the news of the anti-Olympic demonstrations that caused property damage in downtown Vancouver.

The Olympic Resistance Network held a press conference a mere days before the beginning of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Geared towards making a massive statement to the press about their actions during the games, both traditional and citizen journalists were there to cover this monumental event.

The 3rd Annual Poverty Olympics took place in Vancouver, to bring light to the many social and economic travesties that are present in Vancouver, even as a present-day host city. Here is a community member filming the satirical event as a testament to the needed voice that this events provide.

The Legal Observers are a group of citizen witnesses to act as public eyes to the ongoings of the street-level events during the Olympic Games, mostly when police presence is involved. There are two groups of Legal Observers present at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games: Legal Observers from the Lawyers Guild and Legal Observers from the Vancouver community. The main priorities of these observers are to record data during events, badge numbers, arrests, violence and anything else that could need a witness testimony.

Chris Wheeler is a great example of a citizen journalist making the most fun out if an experience. Geared up as the ‘2010 Torch Reporter‘, Wheeler followed the Olympic Torch around its journey throughout Canada, documenting his whole  experience on video. Not only did he follow the Torch along its vast Canadian route, Wheeler also coupled the documentation with a travel-style viewpoint of the many facets of Canada and the adventures to be had.

Everyone has the ability to capture their own experience through film or photos, even when there is a strife tension between the two subjects. Here is a protestor making a visual testament to the police visibility that was seen during the Olympic demonstrations. Citizen journalism has a presence everywhere in Vancouver.

Citizen journalism is an action. By the simple means of documenting our world around, whether with our fancy cameras or our always handy cell phones, we are actively participating in sharing our experience with the world. It is not really how is happening but that it is happening all the time. We are journalists and the world is full of our news.

Vancouver is filled with energy now that 2010 Winter Olympic Games has officially started. The last week has been filled with the excited fervor of the last month and anticipation of the upcoming weeks. Here is a photographic look into the last week of adventure and celebrations, before the officially opening of the Games in Vancouver.

The Olympic torch was carried downhill on the Blackcomb mountain by world champion and olympiad Steve Podborski. Steve won a bronze medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Currently he is part of the VANOC and works within International Relations.

Premier Gordon Campbell seemingly is Canada’s number one fan. Campbell has travelled around Canada for the entire length of the torch relay. Here he is handing out coveted British Columbia Olympic pins to fans at the Whistler Torch Celebration.

Vancouver is part of the Coast Salish territories and has a Four Host First Nation welcoming committee as part of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Willie Lewis, dressed in a traditional Aborginal outfit, was part of the Whistler Torch Relay Celebration.

Static Photography had the chance to hang out in Whistler for the weekend with Chris Wheeler who had been following the torch relay through all of Canada. We had the chance to do some zip trekking with him! Our longest run was 2200 m.

The Olympic Torch had an extended route through all of Vancouver with the relay going through all of the neighborhoods in Vancouver. The Vancouver city council accompanied by Mayor Gregor Robertson welcomed the torch when it came to City Hall.

Vancouver Olympiad Lori Fung, with her gold medal, was present when the Olympic Torch came to the Vancouver City Hall. Fung was the first gold medalist awarded in the sport of Rhythmic Gymnastics during the 1984 Summer Olympics which were held in Los Angeles, CA.

Iain Black welcomed the public to the opening of the VX Forum in Vancouver, BC. Black is Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development in Canada and is pictured here with Nadia Nascimento and Dave Olson of Invoke Media which is the parent company to twitter-based application Hootsuite.

This is the first Olympic Games where people are full-on involved with technology and the internet. Many fans often have out their own cameras to capture their memories themselves. With this sort of documentation present for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, some of the best Olympic news coverage will be coming from the internet!

There are many different pavilions popping up all over Vancouver with all sorts of awesome installations and displays. This is a touch screen graffitti media installation in the DigiBC part of the BC Pavilion. Here one of the creators is having fun creating some interactive art.

Mayor Gregor Robertson has been a very busy man during the preparations for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Here he is outside of the W2 Media and Culture House in the DTES. He was the speaker at the ribbon-cutting of this independent media house which opened to the public.

The beautiful Olympic Athlete Village sits on the waters’ edge of the False Creek. There was a bit of controversy when the athletes from Australia hung up their official Aussie flag, which is a copyrighted image. Despite some grievances with the IOC, Vancouver fought to keep the flag up!

Bombardier, the company who designed the Olympic Torch for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, also designed the Olympic Line, a train that runs from the Main Street Skytrain Station to Granville Island. Bombardier has given Vancouver two of their streetcars, on loan from Brussels, Belgium. The Olympic Line is a 60 day demonstration project so get a ride while you can!

Visitors have been packing into Vancouver from all over the world for the 2010 Winter Olympics. This group of women associated with Ukrainian team were photographed on their way into the Opening Ceremony on February 12th.

Another type of visitor that has been sighted in Vancouver is the increase in public security, with the influx of police from other provinces. These police officers are in fact from four different Canadian provinces!

It was very exciting to watch the crowd gather for the Opening Ceremony at the German Saxony House. The place was packed with locals and visitors for the three hour televised event. Of course, everyone went nuts when the Canadian team was ushered into BC Place.

The biggest secret of the 2010 Winter Olympics was the identity of the person who was to light the final torch in Vancouver during the official welcoming of the Games. Wayne Gretzky ended up carrying the torch from BC Place to the final outdoor giant torch at Waterfront station in a great fanfare. The night ended with a fireworks-filled sky.

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are upon us and things are heating up around Vancouver. You can feel the energy in the city as all the last minute details are pulled together for this huge event. The team at Static Photography has been out and about making photos of all the action and we have pulled together some of our favorites. You can find more Vancouver 2010 photos than you know what to do with here, but for now check out this first week of February in Vancouver with the Winter Olympic Games just around the corner.

We got a tour of Prince George, starting first with speed skating lessons from the speed skating youth team. These kids are fast!

These cute dogs were part of DogPower which gave us a dog-sledding tour through Prince George.

Rebecca Bollwitt, otherwise known as Miss604, was up in Prince George for the winter adventures. Rebecca is a Vancouver blogger who will be covering the
Olympic Games.

Dog-sledding was a great way to travel the back country of Prince George.

Prince George has a huge ancient forest with trees that are hundreds of years old. Static Photography’s Kris Krüg had a chance to prove his strength by holding up this fallen tree.

The ancient forest in Prince George provided a great canopy for the long winter hike.

The Prince George Coldsnap Music Festival showcases some of the best in Canadian musical talent. The Great Lake Swimmers were at the festival this year, headlining the main night.

The BC Cups #2 Cross-country Skiing event happened took place in Prince George. This event was all ages and the competition was strong even in the
snowfall.

The Torch was traveling through Prince George in its journey through Canada. This is the passing of the Olympic flame from one torch bearer
to another torch bearer, which is called a ‘kiss’.

There was a festive torch celebration when the Olympic flame was brought Prince George. The entire town was a captive audience when the Prince George cauldron was light by the Olympic flame.

Premier Gordon Campbell is obviously the Olympics biggest fan and has travelled around the country following the torch along its journey.

The Richmond Oval is a venue that was built specifically for the Olympic Games. This venue will hold the speed-skating events.

GM Place will be renamed Canada Hockey Place during the Olympic Games. All of the hockey events will be held at this venue during February.

Many changes have taken place in Vancouver during the preparation for the Olympic Games. A long standing Beatty Street mural was covered in the prep but is being repainted by local Vancouver artists.

For the first time ever in Olympic history, the Cultural Olympiad has a digital edition called CODE. Rae Hull is the Creative Director of CODE, which is has four parts, Canada CODE, CODE Screen 2010, CODE Motion Pictures and CODE Live.

This is the CODE Live 1 at Great Northern Way Campus in Vancouver. Wang Yuyang is showcasing his media installation Artifical Moon, which illuminates the entryway of CODE Live 1.

The 2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad has some public art installations around the city. One of these art installations is Fire with Fire by Isabelle Hayeur and is located in the W2 Woodward’s building.

The 2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad has curated over 60 days of arts, theatre and dance performances. The opening weekend showcased Elizabeth Streb’s show Streb: RAW with its amazing acrobatic feats of human flight.

We spent the weekend in Whistler with Tourism BC. Chris has been making videos while following the Torch through its journey of Canada.

The Peak to Peak Gondola takes you from the top of the Whistler Mountain to the top of the Blackcomb Mountain. This was part of our snowboard adventure with Tourism BC.

The Vancouver Winter Olympic Games will officially be here in the city in less than a week. We can’t wait to see what Vancouver has in
store when the Games are finally here!

Definitely make sure to check back for more photo essays during themonth of February!

Here is a slideshow of the images from this photo essay. Feel free to share this on your blogs and your networks under a Creative Commons license. Please make sure to link back to Static Photography!

Thanks!

The events spanned across CODE 1 (Great Northern Way), CODE 2 (Emily Carr) and across the skies with the Vancouver vectoral illuminations. CODE Live runs from the 4th to the 21st of February. More details are available here.

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