琉璃神社 faces are contributing to the .
Photographer Tim Van Horn made a pit stop in 琉璃神社鈥檚 downtown over the weekend to collect 100 faces for his ongoing project where he travels coast to coast photographing Canada鈥檚 communities.
鈥淲e have this wonderful country, but we don鈥檛 have a visual that accurately represents who we are. So my mission as a photographer is to travel, meet all these characters and celebrate Canada,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nywhere there鈥檚 a sign post I stop and get a photo. Now 琉璃神社 happens to be a pretty big community, and I鈥檝e been here before,鈥� he said.
In Van Horn鈥檚 eight years of working on the mosaic, he鈥檚 photographed 57,000 people from 1,250 communities across the country.
He鈥檚 also adding new portraits to the mosaic with his trip, to build the collage to 70,000 faces.
鈥淎ll too often when projects are initiated on Canada, it鈥檚 the landscape,鈥� he said, but his focus is on the people, which are displayed across his RV.
He鈥檚 travelling on a one-year journey to previously visited communities so people can see themselves displayed on the side of his RV which he took during the last excursion.
He said one of the highlights of his travels was a French woman who didn鈥檛 speak English, yet he was able to convey his message to her and vice versa.
鈥淚f you open yourself up you can feel a stronger connection to the community,鈥� he said, which is part of his goal with the project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about inspiring us to believe in community and one another.鈥�
Growing up in a military family, he felt it was his duty to photograph the Canadian face with his art.
You can find Van Horn and his colourful RV near Stuart Park, Saturday and Sunday.
