The Canadian Landscape/Le paysage Canadien

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Throughout this bilingual work Kraulis reaches for unity, similarities
that unite Canada’s landscapes. He pairs a shot of oceanside boulders
in Newfoundland with a similar beach scene in British Columbia. Sun and
sea fog on the Gulf of St. Lawrence is set alongside sunrise in the Gulf
Islands, a continent away. Fall color in Nova Scotia is juxtaposed with
the similar elements in Georgian Bay, Ontario. The result of this unique
approach is a sense of possessiveness of the land. The message is that
this is our country; it is big and varied, but we recognize it, we
understand it; it is home, no matter what part of it we are in.

In over 150 magnificent color plates, one can see Kraulis’s mastery
of his photographic craft: disciplined composition, light as color. The
Canada he gives us is calm and stable. The nature he shows us is always
dramatic, strong, and majestic—a sleeping giant in wonderfully
saturated color. The photographer is in control of the scene, and we can
vicariously share that sense of safeness in the presence of rugged
beauty.

As a coffee-table album, the book has few rivals. Others may have more
excitement, more visual variety, or even more artistry, but no one
surpasses Kraulis when it comes to giving us ownership of the landscapes
of our country.