An Atlantic Album: Photographs of the Atlantic Provinces, before 1920

David Mattison is a librarian with the B.C. Provincial Archives and
Records Services Library.

Without a doubt this is one of the finest examples of photographic history published in Canada. The authors and publishers are to be congratulated for providing an excellent design model for similar works. The book had an unusual gestation, for it emerged out of an NFB film, Fixed in Time: A Victorian Album, directed by Mackenzie, as well as an exhibit prompted by the film.

Although described as an album, the book is effectively organized around topics such as urban and country scenes, work and daily life activities, portrait studio photographs, architectural photography, and social events. While the book functions on one level as a survey of life in the Maritimes, on another and more subtle level it demonstrates the interpretation of a regional society through the eyes of commercial and amateur photographers.

Concluding the book are biographical notes on the photographers and some examples of their advertising. The endpapers include full-size reproductions of the versos of photographs, with their often elaborate graphics. A one-page bibliography of primarily recent Canadian and American books and articles on photography, including five other books containing images only of Atlantic Canada, demonstrates the depth of available resources.

The only criticism to make of this otherwise exceptional work is the lack of a topical index to the image content. As the cost is minimal, few Canadian libraries should be without this book.