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2009 News and Information
2009 Lulu Series – Art in the City Presents: A Snapshot of International Photo Journalist’s Career
14 April 2009On a warm, summer morning 19 years ago, just after dawn, photographer Nick Didlick, on assignment for the Vancouver Sun, approached a sleeping man in the Lil’wat Nation community of Mount Currie, in the Pemberton valley. Didlick was covering a road blockade that had been set up by the First Nations band to protest land claims and a proposal to pave the highway running through their reserve.
“There was no one to be seen around the tent camp that had sprung up almost overnight covering the highway,” says Didlick, “except for one elder, who sat napping on a chair in the middle of the road, blocked by various debris behind him.
“Hi. I’m Nick from the Sun,” Didlick introduced himself.
Without moving, the elder opened his eyes and looked up at Didlick and said, “Ya, well, I’m Edwin, from the moon.”
In an award-winning photo journalism career spanning more than 30 years, Didlick has crossed the globe many times, and met many sharp minds. None, he says, were as witty as the Mount Currie elder, who woke up from his nap and delivered a one-liner that would make a comedian proud.
Didlick is the featured presenter in the 2009 Lulu Series – Art in the City, on Thursday, April 30, 7 p.m. in the Richmond City Hall Council Chambers. Currently a Vancouver-based commercial and editorial photographer, Didlick will recount his experiences and discuss his role as the photo manager for the 2010 Olympic and ParalympicWinter Games, using his own images as a backdrop.
During his career, Didlick has travelled with presidents, royalty and sports teams, and covered super power summits, Olympic Games and disasters. His photographs have appeared in the world’s major newspapers and magazines, including the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times, the Times of London, the Sydney Morning Herald, Stern, Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone.
Didlick shot his first professional assignment in 1976 in Maple Ridge. “I just hung on to my camera straps and waited to see what adventure the camera would take me on,” he says. In December 1979, at the age of 22, he joined United Press and travelled widely for the next five years on assignment in North and South America as well as Europe. In 1985 he moved to Reuters News Pictures Service in Brussels, later transferring to London as Deputy Chief Photographer for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Didlick was the Reuters Journalist of the Year in 1988 (the first time the award was given to a photojournalist), and was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by Reuters: for a picture from the 1985 Heysel Stadium soccer riot, and for a picture of Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev at the completion of the Reagan/Gorbachev Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986.
The Lulu Series – Art in the City was launched in 2003 to promote art as an important investment in creating liveable cities, and the role it plays in a city’s economic development. Over the last seven years, The Lulu Series has offered an array of presentations, lectures and forums with leading professionals and specialists in the arts, architecture and urban design fields.
The April 30 presentation will open with Richmond singer, songwriter and recording artist Cherelle Jardine. In addition to being a highly sought-after performer, Jardine is active in the Richmond arts scene, and is nominated for an inaugural Richmond Arts Award. She produces Musical Expressions, a monthly showcase featuring top musicians and is currently writing her fifth album, scheduled for release in 2010.
The event is free, but seating is limited, so please RSVP to kirsten.schrader@richmond.ca, 604-247-8324.
Event: 2009 Lulu Series – Art in the City presents Nick Didlick, Photo Journalist Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009 Time: 7:00 p.m. Location: Richmond City Hall, 6911 No. 3 Road
Council ChambersAdmission: Free RSVP: kirsten.schrader@richmond.ca or 604-247-8324
