Breaking News

In the years before the First World War, the daily papers used few news photographs; the technology had not been developed to the point where photos could be used on short notice in any significant number. At the same time, however, the postcard photographer could have his news photographs on the street the day after an event took place. George Alfred Barrowclough was one of these photographers. Barrowclough had the eye of an artist and the nose of a newsman. His images of Vancouver and surrounding areas differ from those of the other postcard photographers of his day in that they are more people-centred and action-oriented. More often than not, they say something about the lives of those who lived in and around Vancouver in the decade before the Great War. Drawing on 140 photographic postcards that Barrowclough produced between 1908 and 1912, award-winning authors Fred Thirkell and Bob Scullion have selected images for this book that reflect the photographers focus on people and events, action and reaction. In Vancouver in those years, you looked to newspapers for words; you looked to Barrowclough for news.