Canada: Landscape of Dreams

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

As if being a neurologist, scientist, pilot, and the first Canadian
female astronaut to fly in space were not enough, Dr. Roberta Bondar is
also an amazing photographer. She has been taking pictures since she
received her first camera from her parents, as a child, and later
studied photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography.

Bondar has had the privilege of photographing Planet Earth from space,
but continues to capture its exquisite landscapes at ground level. This,
her third book of photography, is a magnificent compilation of
Canada’s fierce and gentle beauty. Exquisite shots of nature in each
Canadian province and territory are complemented by the comments of
well-known Canadians in a variety of fields. Actors Gordon Pinsent,
Sonia Smits, and Maury Chaykin are each quoted alongside superb
landscapes of relevance to them individually. They are joined by sports
figures Nancy Greene Raine and Frank Mahovlich, politicians Iona
Campagnolo and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, artists Ken Danby, Robert Bateman
and Molly Bobak, among many other celebrities.

The photos are superb and perfectly matched, on an opposite page, by
these personal musings. From sea to shining sea, Canada’s remarkable
topography is caught with breathtaking beauty by Bondar’s lens.
Glorious sunsets vie for attention with magnificent mountains,
vegetation, and seascapes. Her exposures and framing are beyond reproach
and bring these glorious images to life.

An added bonus of the book, expertly edited by Christine Yankou, is its
size. It is not a large, cumbersome volume, but one that can be carried
about and admired anywhere, anytime. It is a wonderful tribute to
Canada’s astonishing beauty and Bondar’s considerable photographic
skills.