Canada's West Coast. Rev. ed.

Joan A. Lovisek, Ph.D., is a consulting anthropologist and
ethnohistorian in British Columbia.

First published in 2003, this photo essay of Canada’s Pacific Coast will no doubt receive a successful second life with the influx of visitors to British Columbia and Canada anticipated for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games. Although the book has the appearance of a souvenir guide, it will also be of interest to armchair enthusiasts who, without a great deal of effort, would never get to see the Northwest Coast without the wonderful images. Readers interested in photography will appreciate the technical and creative skills needed to produce this book. The photographer and author, Chris Cheadle, who lives on Vancouver Island, is hardly new to the subject since he has produced two other photographic collections about Vancouver Island.

The publication is of consistent good quality, in colour with a well-designed layout. The images are displayed and organized for the most part regionally although each section is not necessarily geographical. For those unfamiliar with the regions of the Northwest Coast, the book includes a helpful colourful map of the coast with thumbnail photographs and linked page references which indicate the geographic location of the subjects. Each section of the book is prefaced with a page of summary text about the subject or geographic area and includes such subjects as “Northwest Coast Traditions,” “Shifting Human Tides,” “Settlements on the Fringe,” and “The Gulf Islands.” Supporting the photographs are general commentaries about the history, topography, population, flora and fauna, and, in some sections, the culture of aboriginal peoples. There is a seasonal scheme for the images but the accompanying text provides only a general context for the photographs. This attractive book will be of interest to those visitors who want a keepsake of their visit to the Northwest Coast and to others who will simply enjoy photography of images of a magnificent coast.