Ever since I first learned of Fred Herzog I've been enamoured of his photographs of Vancouver, my adopted home town of 40 years now. I most recently saw his work on exhibit at the National Gallery in Ottawa last summer - it looks like they've transported more or less the same showing to Vancouver.
His images touch me on different levels. Visually I love the colours. As a young photographer in the 70's I was hooked on Kodachrome although my photography then was totally fixated on what was then my main passion, hiking and mountaineering in British Columbia's mountains, the Cascades in Washington State, and the Alberta Rockies. Kodachrome colours will always evoke fond memories of my youth and early adult years.
Herzog's colours instantly transport me to a late afternoon on any sunny day in Vancouver. He doesn't appear to have come out in the rain nearly as much. We get a *lot* of rain.
As pre-teen in 1972 when we arrived, I remember that the city still had some of the feeling Herzog had mostly captured more than ten years before, as at least some parts of Vancouver had not yet changed in that time as radically as they eventually would.
Back then riding the Hastings Street bus downtown to the main public library was a weekend ritual for me. Through much of the 70's, at least along Hastings but also in other areas, you could still recognize many of the views Herzog had captured and even today some buildings and street character persist as little portals to a period far back in time now.
You can see more of his images here:
http://www.equinoxgallery.com/artists/portfolio/fred-herzog
An article about a Herzog book launch appeared in a local web-zine late last year:
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/12/02/Fred-Herzog/
The book in question - I've just ordered it and will add a comment to this thread when it arrives.
http://www.amazon.ca/Fred-Herzog/dp/1553655583/
Thanks for pointing out the National story on Herzog. After seeing his exhibit last summer I went looking for a printed book and discovered that his first volume was out of print and used copies were going for hundreds of dollars. I missed the December article on the new book launch so am delighted to be able to pick one up for $38.
