British Columbia

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

Sherman Hines needs no introduction because his photographs have earned him sufficient recognition. His most recent offering, a geographical portrait of British Columbia, comes perhaps at an unfortunate time in the publishing business. There have been more photographic books on British Columbia published this past year than ever before in any single year. One has to ask how well Hines’s book distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack. The answer is hardly at all.

British Columbia is nearly visually cliched to death: we have the giant cedar and firs; the snowcapped peaks of uncountable mountains; the romantic orange on red sunsets over lakes or English Bay, Vancouver; the fog and rain; the waterfalls; and that warming coastal light.

Hines’s images, while contributing to the present oversupply, vindicate themselves in most cases by their sheer attractiveness; these are indeed studies in light and composition. There are few people in the pictures, however, which is a reflection of the population balance itself, undersettled and overstocked with breathtaking scenery.

Jack Webster contributes a rambling, pointless, and too-personal foreword that makes no connection with the book in hand. The volume is well bound and properly priced; the printing is reasonable (perfect has yet to be achieved). A good value as a gift book, especially for budding photographers.