Underlying Vibrations: The Photography and Life of John Vanderpant

Paul Hjartarson is an associate professor of English at the University
of Alberta.

When Charles Hill, curator of Canadian art at the National Gallery of
Canada, was engaged in research for Canadian Painting in the Thirties
(1975), he stumbled upon the photography of John Vanderpant
(1884–1939). Hill was so impressed by Vanderpant’s photography that
once he had completed his research, he organized an exhibition of the
Vancouver artist’s work at the National Gallery. If Hill hoped to
stimulate interest in Vanderpant’s photography, he must have been
disappointed; while Vanderpant is mentioned in studies of Canadian
culture between the wars, his work has not received the attention it
deserves. Underlying Vibrations is the first monograph to appear since
the publication of Hill’s exhibition catalogue John Vanderpant:
Photographs in 1976. Sheryl Salloum’s monograph thus fills a
significant gap in the study of Canadian culture between the wars.

Underlying Vibrations is divided into two parts: a seven-chapter study
of Vanderpant’s life as a photographer, and a portfolio of 58
photographs. Salloum discusses Vanderpant’s early life in Holland,
including his work as a photojournalist, and his eight years in Alberta
as a commercial portrait photographer; Underlying Vibrations focuses,
however, on the two decades (1919–39) in New Westminster and Vancouver
during which he gained an international reputation for his work. While
Vanderpant was building that reputation, he was not only organizing and
judging exhibitions but also lecturing and publishing widely. He made
the Vanderpant Galleries, which he and Harold Mortimer-Lamb opened on
Robson Street in 1926, into a centre for the visual arts, music, and
poetry in Vancouver. Salloum seeks to balance biographical narrative
with a commentary on Vanderpant’s work habits and his photography. Too
often, however, the loose chronological organization of the chapters is
sacrificed to those other interests. The result is that the book reads
more like a collection of essays than like a unified work. Underlying
Vibrations nevertheless makes a valuable contribution to our
understanding of Vanderpant’s work; it is worth purchasing for the
photographs alone.