Newsletter No. 18: November, 2006
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
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LONG AWAITED !
CONTENTS
1. From the book’s dust cover jacketIn the midst of the grandeurs of British Columbia’s landscape, there lies a particular and unique jewel: the Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit. Of the people who have known and loved it, Chris Harris stands out as one of its strongest and most faithful advocates. As a tour guide and photographer, he has paddled the Lakes well over 100 times and knows the area in every mood and every season. This book represents thirty-five years of passion for both the wilderness and the twin artistries of paddling and photography.
Chris’s stunning imagery presents the journey of a lifetime. Here is the circuit in all its drama and in every light. The 150 photographs are accompanied by Chris’s thoughts and feelings as he created them. With images spanning the full range between precise documentary and impassioned abstraction, the result is a fresh perspective on the circuit and a pleasurable guide for both paddlers and visual artists.
Contributions by Jim Boyde, Syd Cannings, and Sandy Phillips detail the natural and cultural history of the Bowron Lakes. Archival images accompany these well-researched texts, to illuminate thousands of years of human habitation and its remaining clues in the circuit of today. Chris’ beautiful colour imagery completes the natural history of the circuit, with portraits of many of the species that paddlers are likely to spot on their journey through the diverse range of habitats of this wildlife sanctuary.
© Chris Harris
Moose swimming past my canoe in the early morning mist. Spectacle Lake
Book Review by Harold Rhenisch
Master outdoorsman Chris Harris has spent a lifetime as adventurer, guide, and photographer. What began thirty-five years ago as a canoe trip into the British Columbia wilderness, has become a journey into the heart of what it means to be human. The list of master outdoorsmen is small. The list of those who have turned their adventures into art is smaller yet. This select group, our guides into our relationship with the earth, includes Sir Richard Burton at the source of the Nile, Lewis and Clark on the Columbia River, Peter Matthieson in the Himalayas, Bruce Chatwin in Patagonia, Roderick Haig Brown on the steelhead rivers of Vancouver Island, and now Chris Harris in the Bowron Lakes.
Few people have known the Bowron Lakes as Harris has. None have ever photographed it like this. Here is a photographic record of a man’s discovery of his self in the deepest wilderness. Out of the physical and emotional challenges of more than 100 trips through the Bowron Lakes and the wilderness around them, alone, in the company of close friends, with large groups of clients, and even on skis in winter, Chris Harris has redefined his relationship to wilderness and photography. The Bowron Lakes: A Lifetime Journey will change yours. Its transformative combination of images and shared thoughts and stories is a gift brought from long exploration and deep reflection and contemplation. Land, water, light, animals, and the journey itself, are presented here as none have done before.
Each of Chris Harris’s trips into the Bowron Lakes has been the first, because each one was made with new eyes and new heart. Chris Harris’s passion has been to share the beauty, harmony, and splendour of the Bowron Lakes. His photographs capture that passionate and inquisitive mind at moments of discovery, reflection, and wonder. The Bowron Lakes: A Lifetime Journey does for canoeing what Isaac Walton did for fly-fishing: it makes it into art.
© Chris Harris
Spirit of the forest. Lanezi Lake
"The land we call British Columbia takes the breath away. It hits us so powerfully that words and pictures can’t do the experience justice. They can only point the way. After thirty years of trying to paint the history of this land in words, I picked up The Bowron Lakes: A Lifetime Journey, and found images that do more than point the way. They are there.":
Harold Rhenisch, author of Out of the Interior: the Lost Country.
© Chris Harris
First snowfall at ‘The Birches’ campsite. Swan Lake
3. A Personal Story – New DirectionsI was about to publish this book in 2001. It was almost fully designed when I realized something just didn’t feel right. I pulled back and put the whole project on the back burner.
Up to that time I had published seven documentary tourist style books. They were great for me at the time, but my photography was changing – I was changing. I began to realize how deeply I was connected to the Bowron Lake landscape and the experiences I have shared there with hundreds of people as a guide over 35 years. I felt I wanted to express this lifetime journey in a more interpretative and meaningful way.
In the autumn of 2005 I ran my last guided trip. That trip and several contemplative solo expeditions provided the final imagery for my new book. I am also delighted to be working with two local and very talented friends; Bill Horne as designer and Harold Rhenisch as editor. Together we have now created a book I feel very proud of. The first edition will be a Collectors Edition. Every book will be individually signed and numbered. I hope it makes its way into your home and that you truly enjoy it.
Chris
© Chris Harris
Thoughtful moments in the morning mist. Isaac Lake
The Collectors Edition:This is the hardcover Collectors Edition, individually signed and numbered.
THE BOWRON LAKES
British Columbia’s Wilderness Canoe Circuit
A Lifetime Journeyby Chris Harris
10.5" x 10.5", 176 pp, 1 map, 150 images
ISBN 0-9685216-7-3; Hardcover $50.00
© Chris Harris
My Chestnut canoe during pre-dawn light. Isaac Lake
A SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
FOR CHRISTMAS DELIVERYCountry Light Publishing will provide free postage anywhere in Canada until December 31, 2006. For our international friends, we will deduct $8.00 from the airmail postage rate. With every book purchased, my recently published guide book to the Bowron Lakes is available for only $10.00. This book titled The Bowron Lakes: A Guide to Paddling British Columbia’s Wilderness Canoe Circuit normally retails for $19.95. A full write-up on the guide book is provided in my Newsletter #13.
ORDERING
- You can order through this website. On the order form please provide your Newsletter subscription email address in the "Special Gift Message" box for your Free Postage.
- You can order by calling the studio-gallery at 250-791-6631 or 1-800-946-6622. Visa and Master Card are both accepted.
- You can order by faxing the studio-gallery at 250-791-6671. Visa and Master Card are both accepted.
- Of course, you are all most welcome to visit the Gallery at 105 Mile Ranch to personally pick up your signed copy. We would love to see you!
© Chris Harris
Stillness & Solitude – Sunrise over Unna Lake