Disclosure.ca

This isn't about Brazil, but is rather a plug for my friend Paul's web project, Disclosure.ca, a visual database of what it means to be Canadian. Check it out and submit a photo or two. Here is an article that was printed by the Edmonton Journal last fall.

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Website creator calls on Canadians to brag about their country - in photos: St. Albert native aims to post one image from every citizen
Edmonton Journal
Saturday, November 6, 2004
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Bill Mah
Dateline: EDMONTON
Source: The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Paul Cowles wants that photo you snapped of your boyfriend at the lake. And the one he took with his cellphone of the guys partying on Whyte Avenue. That pretty shot of the sunset in Jasper, too. In fact, he wants at least one digital image taken by every Canadian for his website, disclosure.ca, an Internet photo album he hopes captures the visual essence of what it means to be Canadian.

"Canadians aren't great at being in your face and bragging about how great this country is," said Cowles, a 28-year-old St. Albert-raised computing scientist who now lives in Toronto. "I wanted to help share what it is that makes up the country to the rest of the world."

What may sound like an improbable dream is catching on, fed by the red-hot phenomenon of digital photography that allows even technophobes on cellphones to pixelate their worlds and shoot them through cyberspace. Cowles calls the goal of posting a picture from every Canadian a "utopian dream," but "if we could get hundreds of thousands of Canadians contributing to the thing, then you start to get a really true perspective of the diversity of the cultures and the age groups."

Since he started in March 2003, 138 different people have uploaded 422 photos depicting 117 locations they want to share -- everything from a chickadee munching sunflower seeds from a woman's hand in Ottawa, to postcard vistas of canoes scuttling across Lake Louise. Besides the standard drugstore calendar fare, some people send in edgier pictures such as pierced and tattooed punks in Old Strathcona. While some of the shots appear professional quality, others look like they were snapped on the run with a cellphone. Cowles already notices regional differences in photos. Ontarians send in more shots of urban life, arts and entertainment, while Albertans upload billions of megapixels worth of mountains, lakes and wildlife.

"Everyone brings their own unique perspective to it and I think that's really neat." Chris Buyze, a 25-year-old Edmonton design consultant, was motivated by national pride when he sent in a photo he took of Dodd's coal mine near Ryley, Alta., thought to be the only small domestic coal mine in Canada. "I thought that was probably an experience that most people don't do any more -- take a half-ton truck and get a load of coal for the winter. I thought it was an interesting photograph that showed a different aspect of Canadian life." Buyze says he loves the idea of exploring the country through the eyes of others.

Visitors to disclosure.ca can e-mail many of the photographers or post their comments. Not all the remarks are complimentary. One American surfer sniffed at one photo: "If this is how boring Canada is, then I don't want to visit."

Edmontonian Sean McCormick, a network administrator with a passion for photography, says he appreciates the idea of a national scrapbook. "It's just nice to share some of our history because we seem to have so little of it, at least on this side of the country," said McCormick, 36.

Cowles considers the site his hobby. He asks for donations from surfers and is looking for sponsors, but hasn't found any so far. He says the rules on submitting are generally open, but he may cut a photo if it's too violent or sexual for a child's eyes. "When the punk photos came in from Edmonton, there was one that showed a fight club scene where two guys had beat each other up and they were bleeding. It was a bit too over the top because there are kids that come to the site."

Cowles plans to release a calendar featuring 12 of the best shots. He says the proceeds will help pay the expenses of the site. He's also thinking about creating a similar album for the written word. "What's the next thing we can add to get Canadian culture that's easily digestible on the web out to more people?"