Images of Kingston

Sarah Robertson is an editor in the College Division of Nelson Canada.

This book is the first full-color essay on the city—one of Canada’s
oldest—that enjoyed a brief stint as the first capital of the Province
of Canada, in 1841. As Davies notes in the preface, Kingston’s
withdrawal from the national scene was, in esthetic terms, fortuitous:
the city was spared the ravages of overdevelopment and forced expansion.
Indeed, these 200 images of Kingston’s people, landmarks, and natural
beauties bespeak a seamless convergence of past and present.

Canton-born Jack Chiang, Picture Editor at the Kingston Whig-Standard
since 1980, has succeeded admirably in producing “artistic
meditations” that are at once personal and universal, and in
presenting familiar subjects in new and unexpected ways. The
photographer is especially gifted at capturing surprising (and often
delightful) details.

Unfortunately absent from this sumptuous volume is any acknowledgment
of Kingston’s poor. Perhaps it was felt that such images would
undercut the back-cover boast that Kingston is a primary Canadian
tourist destination and retirement centre.