An interview with Pride photographer Yvonne Hanson

Yvonne is a well known photographer specializing in street photography, fashion photography, portraits and event photography.

Yvonne Hanson grew up in Squamish and moved to Vancouver after high school in order to attend SFU. She’s been living and creating here ever since.

An activist herself, it’s not unexpected to find Yvonne photo-documenting a protest and her YouTube channel features a few segments on protests and how to photograph them in an ethical manner.

Yvonne’s passion, however, is fashion and beauty. Her website and social media is full of stunning photos of beautiful people wearing amazing clothes.

And, after a two-year hiatus, this year’s Pride was a wonderful opportunity for Yvonne with thousands of people turning out to celebrate wearing their very best pride regalia. Be sure to check out her Pride Galleries.

PRIDE GALLERIES ⇢

Socials:
Instagram @yhanson_photography
FaceBook →
Youtube →
Website: yhansonphotgraphy.ca

Yvonne is always on the run, but we caught up to her recently as she was recovering from a climbing injury,

WOQ: It seems as though you’ve been a photographer forever, but what are your earliest memories of photography?

YVONNE:

I’ve always been the photo-taking friend, even in elementary school when I had a terrible tiny digital point and shoot that took 20 seconds to click a photo. But my first “real” camera was a cannon rebel that I got for christmas in grade 8. That was back when colour-selection black and white photos were really popular, and I went a bit nuts taking photos with just a single red item in colour.

WOQ: Oh ya, the gear. I know if I were a photographer the gear would be a huge part of my craft. How did you learn about it and sort through it all?

YVONNE:

Gear is both the bane of my existence and my favourite part of the art. Every time I learn about a new piece of gear, I want it desperately. Especially since taking up film photography, I have discovered there are so many new worlds of gear to dive into with each genre. I learn most of what I know through youtube and reddit forums. Mostly by looking at a photo I love and asking “how was that taken?” and the answer almost always involves some new piece of gear that I now must acquire.

WOQ: You have some great videos on the different kinds of cameras and other gear of interest to photographers. Do you have some current favourites?

YVONNE:

The two pieces I’m playing with right now are my Diana camera lens adaptor which allows me to use a $17 plastic toy camera lens with my $3000 professional full frame camera. It’s hilarious, and the results are a weird hybrid between plastic lomography and top of the line digital imagery.

Another thing I’m playing with right now is the Lomography Action Sampler which is a plastic toy camera that has 4 lenses and a pinwheel inside that spins when you take a photo, covering 3 lenses at a time. The result is that you take 4 different photos on 1 frame of 35mm film, each only milliseconds apart. It’s great for capturing movement because you can put the photos together into a moving gif later on.

WOQ: Right and film! You often use film,rather than digital. What is the charm in this?

YVONNE

I’ve always been drawn to in-camera effects, even before I was shooting with film. Film has so much potential for making new effects, whether it is the type of camera, film, or development you are using. The more I learn, the more I realize I have yet to learn!

WOQ: You have a lot of beautiful outdoor photos, but I see you also have a studio. Do you want to tell us a bit about it?

YVONNE:

I have access to my studio space 4 days per month, and I usually do about 5 shoots per studio day. This gives me time throughout the week to work on editing and finalizing photos for my clients! I have studio hours from 8am-5:30pm and I charge $180 per headshot session. Sometimes I also co-host big collaborative shoots in studio with the studio owner, Alex. We have hosted two so far, and we plan to host many more!

WOQ: Those collabs look super fun. Are you planning any for this fall?

YVONNE:

Yes! Although we want to start hosting Mixer events as well, so we are thinking one month will be a collaborative shoot, and the next month will be a mixer with everyone who was involved in the collaborative shoot plus folks who might be interested in future shoots!

WOQ: Your YouTube channel is full of fantastic tips and reviews. But you also feature a bit of history right?

YVONNE:

Yes! When I have time, I love making the history videos. They take a lot of research, not just for the information but also for the images that i include. Most of my deep-dive videos have over 200 unique images or more, so that takes some time to put together. Worth watching though, if you love learning about photography!

WOQ: You are a queer woman, and you have many beautiful queer friends as evidenced by your galleries and social media. Do you believe your art helps people navigate their expressions of identity and difference?

YVONNE:

That was always part of my goal as a photographer. I don’t like photographing the “standard” model type, and I want to help contribute to the diversification of who we consider “model material” by showcasing people with a variety of bodies, races, gender expressions, and lifestyles. I want everyone to feel comfortable in my studio, full stop.

WOQ: I love all the rainbow photos you’ve been featuring on your instagram!

YVONNE:

Thank you! This style has been quite a technical challenge to pull off. It requires 5 lights- 3 LED panels and 2 strobe lights. I also have to get the settings just right- and of course there’s a lot of work in post as well! Now that I’ve figured out the magic formula, its very easy for me to capture folks in this style.

WOQ: You like to travel and have made a few videos of your experience photographing different cities. Where will you go next?

YVONNE:

Next month I am heading to New York City for Fashion Week! I’ve never been, and I am SO excited about it. After that I’ll be heading to Montreal to visit friends and take as many street photos as I possibly can.

Gallery above - Burnaby Pride

WOQ: Thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing with us your Pride Photo Galleries. Would it be ok for someone to download a photo of themselves from your gallery?

YVONNE:

Absolutely! I’m happy to share these photos far and wide, especially with those who are captured in them. My photo credit is Y Hanson Photography or @Yhanson_Photography on instagram. Thanks for asking!

WOQ: That’s awesome. Have a fantastic time in New York and perhaps we’ll catch up with you again around Hallowe’en - the queer’s Christmas - there’ll be lots of photo opportunities then I’m sure!

YVONNE:

Haha, I look forward to it! I have to admit, I already have some halloween shoots lined up! Thanks for the opportunity to be featured, I really appreciate it! Talk to you soon :)