GENES #12 - Trey Denzyl (@treydenzyl)
The GENEs behind Trey's family ring.
This is the 12th installment in my series, GENEs. where I interview locals I have met over my time taking photos in “east vancouver” and unravel the stories behind their favorite things.
To check out the previous interviews covering a range of clothing with innate gorgeous stories, see the link here.
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Although I haven’t been able to publish as many of these as I would like at this point, I have been very satisfied with each and every interview so far, they’ve all been inspirational, deep, and for me (and hopefully you, dear reader) it has been super interesting to hear the connections people make to the items in their possession.
This interview continues down that path in many aspects.
Introduction
I had an afternoon off from work and was able to head into the city to take care of a couple appointments and errands before meeting up with todays GENEs feature, Trey Denzyl.
I was hoping to sneak in a few laps on Commercial or Main St. to shoot some photos prior to meeting up, but the weather was not cooperating that day and traffic had ended up being a bit busier than I anticipated. I usually try to get “on location” a few minutes early to find a spot and get set up before my interviewee arrives, but today, I was hustling over to our meeting spot, and happened to run into Trey on the way in, who also happened to be a few minutes early, on the phone with his dad, getting some last minute details on the item he brought to share with me.
We said our hello’s and I quickly shot a couple photos before starting the interview as the rain had subsided enough for me to snap some portraits on the sidewalk. We walked over to 33a together and casually caught up on our days thus far.
Unfortunately, unlike my other interviews, this one will read more heavily as a narrative style rather than using too many direct quotes from Trey, as the voice recording was too muffled by the ambient noise from the space we were in, a lesson learned for next time…
A Multi-disciplinary Artist
Within the first 10-15 minutes of meeting up, Trey had mentioned four or five different things he is working on in passing as we were recapping our days and what we had planned for our upcoming evenings.
Street dancing, photography and photography school, modeling, entrepreneurship, and recording music all were on the menu of activities for Trey today and fortunately enough for me, he was able to carve out an hour to sit and chat about his favorite item.
The second I hit record on my phone I didn’t even know where to start after hearing all that activity. My mind was racing with which aspect of his endeavors I’d want to ask him about first. The opportunities for learning overwhelmed me, not to mention, Trey falls into the category of my acquaintances in the neighborhood of “I’ve following on IG for a while, met once or twice for photos, but don’t really know the whole story”, so it was great to get some background about him, how he got to where he is today, and where he is planning on going.
His Instagram page is a fantastic portfolio of his photography (slowvariations), street dancing, and modelling work. He seems to be able to bring a certain positivity, and brightness into a lot of his work and as we started talking, his gentle but vibrant energy could be felt instantly.
I decided to start with questions about his schooling. I’ve always been curious to know what a photography program entails and how a creative feels in a more “structured” and educational environment. Being a teacher myself, I loved to hear that he is enjoying his time learning photography in a “classroom”.
For me, I feel like I’m more of an artistic person than a technical person, so I need to learn the technical side of things and Langara does a really good job offering that.
He explained through the assignments and in his current studio work he has been able to learn a lot about the technical side of photography, now being able to take that knowledge and apply it with his creative side. He spoke very positively about his experience and was showing a genuine interest and curiosity about what types of opportunities and experiences the craft of photography can offer.
It was so refreshing to hear him talk positively about his current experience at school (Langara), often I hear about people “just trying to make it through school” looking at post-secondary as another hoop to jump through to finally get to the “real world”, but Trey seems to have a different approach, using the challenges presented to him as opportunities for growth and developing his understanding as a photographer, artist, designer, and person, and he seemed excited and optimistic about what the rest of his education will teach him.
Beyond photography, Trey explained that he would love to work on larger scale designs eventually, using a “character” he has been developing over some time, hopefully one day creating larger installations as this character evolves. He came across this symbol through an assignment he had in a class called Creative Ideation. His ambition is inspiring.
We chatted a bit more about some of the other interests he digs into, such as street dancing and recording music. I, embarrassingly, had to get a lesson on the taxonomy of street dancing, as he gracefully broke down the different styles, genres, and some of the more nuanced history of the artform in general and his history in finding community in the Vancouver scene at Robson Square.
On top of all this, I also remembered that he helped run a local vintage store his family owns.
Family History and Stoxx Vintage
His energetic and positive ambitions, constant growth, and independent exploration of art I would hypothesize closely links to his upbringing. Trey was born in Toronto but moved just before his first birthday to Trinidad with his mother and brothers when he was in 2001, and it wasn’t the first time the family had to completely uproot and leave during his life.
Being an entrepreneur in Trinidad, his mother had established herself as a local merchant and eventually ended up moving the family again, this time to the west coast, in Nanaimo. An experience Trey remembers as inspirational but difficult, knowing his mother left an established business and life to try and make it in a new country, in a new city, showing him the drive he needed to succeed, all while raising three sons. Then, a few years later, they moved from Nanaimo to the mainland. His mother, always an entrepreneur, through each move, found a way to start a business and earn a living for her family, something I personally find so powerful. Today, that same spirit is still thriving and has branched into multiple locations as they put roots down in the lower mainland.
They now run a multi-location thrift and vintage store called Stoxx Vintage. They have three locations, one in Vancouver (Kingsgate), one in Burnaby (Metrotown) and one in Nanaimo (Woodgrove). They approached entering industry a bit differently, being established in the mall setting, an approach his mom learned back when she ran similar businesses in Trinidad. It’s unconventional, as most vintage shops in the area exist on more…eclectic street facing storefronts, but the small mall model is working, with plans to continue to expand and refine the business, just another project for Trey on top of all the other interests he balances.
Treys Family Ring
Trey was gifted this ring from his mother, but the ring was originally his fathers. His mother found it one day and asked him if he’d like it. A story full of complexity and of reconnection, this ring is able to tie him back to his past, but also work on his future relationships, giving him a new connection with his dad that he had lacked in the past.
From what he knows, his father got the ring custom made but the origins are unknown, and his mother had been hanging onto it for a while. A sentimental heirloom, he values this ring for the family history it tells, something he will hang onto for the rest of his life.
As I studied the ring I tried to analyze what the designer was trying to achieve with the knobby centers surrounded by this connective web. It kind of looked like flowers at one point, or the center of a wheel. Trey mentioned he never really gave the design too much thought, some of the diamonds had fallen off, and it has obvious signs of wear, and again, he linked it to what the ring represents about the past and how it may influence his approach in the future.
Just like when we were talking about his artistic interests, he had the same positive feelings and energy when talking about the ring. It’s beautiful wear showing it’s been loved for a couple decades, and has lots of substance for aging beautifully moving forward as the metallic yet organic shape and texture suit the slow patina process.
We wrapped up the conversation with a little bit more photography talk, shot a couple more photos, and went our own separate ways.
I left that conversation buzzing. As someone who is constantly trying to expand my own understanding of different art forms, it was fun to bounce ideas off someone on a similar journey. Treys interests span across genres and boundaries, with creation and learning at the heart of finding new things to experiment with.
As I edited the photos and wrote this piece, I was staring at the rings structure again and it became a little more metaphorical to me.
The points of intersection, where the diamonds used lay, being the foci of energy at a time, maybe music or photography, and the strands between them, being the skills, lessons, or inspirations, fueling and informing those foci, to create the whole creative expression itself. For some, this plethora of creating may seem overwhelming, the responsibilities and assignments daunting, but for Trey, that day at least, he was organized, energized, and inspiring.
Again, I am grateful for Trey for taking the time to share his story with me, with all that was on his plate that day. I am looking forward to continuing to follow his artistic journey in all facets, and I encourage you to do the same.
I ask every participant to suggest two people who they would want to see featured next on GENEs, one local and one “reach”.
Treys picks are
Local: Briggs Ogloff (@briggsogloff) - Local photographer, video maker, and director from Vancouver (whom I’ve been in touch with but can’t seem to pin a date!).
Reach: Rafael Pavarotti (@rafaelpavarotti_) - Brazilian fashion photographer with bold colours, textures, and lighting whos work is both beautiful and politically active; “addressing the imbalance of Black representation in fashion and broader historical narratives.”
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