Portrait of British Columbia

Description

64 pages
Contains Photos
$14.95
ISBN 1-55153-181-X
DDC 971.1'04'0222

Author

Year

2002

Contributor

Reviewed by Monika Rohlmann

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

Review

The spectacular photography is what makes this book. Born and raised in
Vancouver, Harvey has traveled the province, the country, and the world
for the past three decades as a stock photographer. He has a sharp eye
for detail and contrast. His photographic work now comprises almost half
a million slides.

The portrait of the province is tackled in four main chapters: The
Island; Vancouver, Coast and Mountains; Thompson, Okanagan, B.C.
Rockies; Cariboo, Chilcotin, Coast and Northern B.C. It is a visual
feast of all the best things British Columbia has to offer: cities
within easy commute of wilderness; stunning mountains in backdrop to
flowering fruit orchards; roaming black bears, grizzlies, cougars, and
mountain goats, to name a few of the big game; horse and cattle ranches;
rivers red with spawning salmon; numerous quaint villages and towns
steeped in pre-Confederation history. The photo captions are brief,
focused on further extolling the wonders of British Columbia’s natural
beauty.

In this affordable coffee-table book, Harvey has produced a visually
exciting portrait of a province with many stunning natural features.
Absent from these pages are any of the more disturbing sites: the
frequent protests at the legislature, the greatly reduced number of
spawning salmon who struggle up polluted rivers, the clear-cut logging
tracts, the open pit mines. Recommended for tourists and others whose
primary interest is the visual feast of natural beauty.

Citation

Harvey, Al., “Portrait of British Columbia,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 14, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/9947.