Seven Photos that Changed Canada

A selection of pictures which defined Canada at a particular time in history.


Please click here to be taken to the CBC selection.

The Inuit a Vanishing Way of Life, by Richard Harrington

This CBC item, features a video presentation of the Inuit - A Vanishing Breed.
The Video presents a photo exhibit from Winnipeg. Be prepared for 30 seconds of commercial time before viewing the video. Viewing time: 2 minutes 36 seconds.

Richard Harrington (1911- 2005): Photographs of a Vanishing Way of Life
The Winnipeg Art Gallery presents the exhibition Arctic Photographer until March 14, 2010. The exhibit features a selection of iconic photographs from Harrington’s work in Canada’s eastern arctic region. Throughout 10 years Harrington visited the arctic, photographing the Inuit who lived in the Padlei region and those who depended on the migration patterns of the caribou. During the 1950s, travelling to this region was difficult and not many ventured north of the Hudson’s bay. Travelling by dogsled, Harrington discovered that many of the people in the northern region were starving and, upon returning to Churchill, he began raising awareness of the problem. He made five successive trips to the arctic region and became one of Canada’s most well-known arctic photographers. Originally from Germany, Harrington immigrated to Canada in the mid-1920s. Over the course of his career, Harrington also travelled to approximately 100 countries. From his travels, he published over 2400 of his photographs in magazines and he produced 24 books. One of his most famous exhibitions, Incredible Journeys, was held at the Canadian museum of Photography in Toronto.

Please click here to see the CBC news profile.

Biography of Bill Reid, Haida Contemporary Artist

Bill Reid ranks among Canada's finest artists, past or present. His works - finely crafted gold, platinum, silver, argillite, bronze, cedar, or ink on paper - are results of a diverse and magnificent talent, treasured by devoted collectors world-wide.

Bill Reid was born in Victoria, the son of a German-Scots-American father and a Haida mother. For 16 years he worked in broadcast journalism, including 10 years with CBC radio.

But the call to create was too strong to ignore. In 1951 he returned to the West Coast from Toronto, embarking on a creative journey lined with stunning jewelry, silkscreen prints, imposing totem poles, and massive monumental sculptures like "Killerwhale", which greets Vancouver Aquarium visitors, "The Raven and the First Men", at the UBC Museum of Anthropology and the "Spirit of Haida Gwaii" gracing the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

Bill Reid is often compared to The Raven of Haida legend, a mythical creature whose actions brought about significant changes to the world around him.

Today his art is in public and private collections around the world. Five Canadian universities have conferred honorary doctoral degrees on him and in 1986 he received the Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts, and became an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In literally re-creating the art of the past, Bill Reid has shared with us the complex forms of his ancestors in a style proven truly outstanding in the art world.

Please click here to see the source document from the protocol and events branch of the Government of British Columbia.