Images of London

Albert Stray is librarian and manager of the Streetsville Public
Library.

London photographer Richard Bain has produced a full-color book of his
city. More than 100 photos are given context in Peter Desbarats’s
foreword and in descriptive vignettes by such Londoners as Nancy Poole,
Martha Henry, Ann McColl, and Calvin Stiller.

The book opens with a full-spread aerial photograph of London over
University Hospital, making it obvious why London is called “the
Forest City.” However, the next photo is the one with which most
Londoners will identify: the forks of the Thames, where the old (the
Court House) and the new (the art gallery) symbolically merge; it is
here that thousands of Londoners celebrate Canada Day each year.

London is captured in all its glory: the lights in Victoria Park on a
cold winter’s night, a ride in the sugar bush in April, children
frolicking at Story Book Gardens in the summer. All the festivals are
captured, from the air show to the multicultural Panorama and the
Western Fair.

A segment of the book is devoted to London’s historical past. Some of
the best of London architecture has been preserved, such as the Labatt
Restoration (the city’s original financial district) and Eldon House
(1834), the city’s oldest remaining private residence, a white
clapboard house and living museum that comes particularly alive at
Christmas. To view what the city would have looked like in the 19th
century, Bain includes photos of Fanshawe Pioneer Village, on the
outskirts of the city. Our Native heritage is not ignored; London is the
site of Canada’s only public excavation of a 15th-century Native
village.

London is more than a pretty face. Its economic vitality stems from
industry such as 3M & GM Diesel, the University of Western Ontario, and
world-class medical research. All are vividly represented in Images.
David Peterson sums up what many Londoners would echo: “This book
captures the spirit and beauty of a place I am proud to call home.”