Changing Landscapes of Southern Ontario.

Changing Landscapes of Southern Ontario. Martin, Virgil. Changing Landscapes of Southern Ontario. Erin,Ontario: The Boston Mills Press, 1988. Pp. 240. Illustrations. There is a tradition within Geography and its systematic branches,Cultural and Historical Geography Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. , which treats its subject matter interms of the "evolution of landscape" or "the changinglandscape." The tradition is holistic, seeing landscape as theexpression of Man's values, or "ways and works," to usethe Philbrickian terminology. Most working in this genre present theirinsights in simple descriptive prose, in the literature of the area andperiod and in the cartographic car��tog��ra��phy?n.The art or technique of making maps or charts.[French cartographie : carte, map (from Old French, from Latin charta, carta, paper made from papyrus and photographic heritage. The photograph is rarely central, functioning often as a sort oftheatrical back drop against which the action is played. That is whatmakes this work, the author's second, different. The work is anexercise in rephotography, a process whereby a "scene" or"event" is reproduced at some subsequent time period. In the pre-photographic period, the description of landscape had torely on written accounts or painted pictures. Even when deliberatelydesigned to assist scientific observation--and several generations ofgeographers, geologists and archaeologists were trained in"field-sketching"--much subjectivity remained. While thephotographic record does not eliminate this subjectivity it does much toreduce it, leaving traces of silver to be organised by the vieweraccording to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. his or her experience, education and culturalpredisposition. In this way one may more readily agree on what is"seen," although not necessarily on what it "means." On this logic Martin searched the photographic record and captureda second image of the event or place in an effort to establish"change" by the juxtaposition of two or more images. In theinitial search of hundreds and perhaps thousands of photographs, a heavyreliance was made upon the resources of the National PhotographicCollection of the National Archives of Canada. Almost half of thepublished photographs are from this source; the rest are drawn from avariety of County museums, the National Air-Photo Library, and theArchives of Ontario-Hyrdo, to name but a few. The project was supportedby the Explorations Programme of the Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is an arts council of the Government of Canada created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It was introduced by Parliament in 1957. , the Ontario ArtsCouncil The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to fund professional arts activity. Founded in 1963 by Levi Pettler, OAC has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts and artists for the and the Ontario Heritage Foundation. Using clues internal to the original photograph, the exact locationfrom which this was captured was determined, Then by matching theseason, the time of day and the light conditions, a second photographwas taken (the method is explained in detail in a three-page appendix)and the changes of ten to 100 years are collapsed to the sharp contrastsof two frozen moments. The oldest photo in the book dates from 1856; theshortest interval between any two images was thirteen months. While, perhaps tongue in cheek, the author claims thatrephotography falls within the warm embrace of Historical Geography, herightly notes that it offers "pertinent information to a wide rangeof disciplines." The social and economic historian will findmaterial to his liking here as will the geographer. Visual inspection of the map locating the site of particularphotographs suggests that South-western Ontario has perhaps receivedmore of its due desserts. This may well be a fortunate"accident" for readers of the Review since it is here thatmost of the urban activity takes place. Indeed, half the book is devotedto the process of urbanisation. While the author recognises that thelandscape exists as a continuum and that some photographs in one chaptercould just as well be in another, he nonetheless chose to devote fourchapters explicitly to things urban. These are entitled "Urbanfrontier," "Hamlets and Villages," "Towns" and"Cities." Two other chapters deal with the related themes of"Industry" and "Transportation." Given that in allthere are ten chapters, the urban theme is well treated. Each chapter includes a brief essay. These are succinctly andlucidly written. Martin exhibits considerable literary skill, utilisingthe power of suggestion to conjure up or make visible, as a spirit, by magic arts; hence, to invent; as, to conjure up a story; to conjure up alarms s>.See also: Conjure image and illusion to minimisetext so that space can be given over to the photograph. The substantivematerial is organised and written in a dynamic way, geared to convey thechanging impact of the phenomenon upon landscape rather than to simplydescribe it per se. For example, within the space of two pages on thebroad theme of Agriculture, the author manages to discuss the varyingimpact of the Amerindian and pioneer European phase of occupancy uponthe landscape, the effects of animal husbandry animal husbandry,aspect of agriculture concerned with the care and breeding of domestic animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, hogs, and horses. Domestication of wild animal species was a crucial achievement in the prehistoric transition of human civilization from , the nature of thefrontier, the advantageous and deleterious effects of dependence uponwheat, the subsequent mixed farming economy and its effects on thenature of the farm family, and the impact of mechanisation. The brevity BrevityAdonis’ gardenof short life. [Br. Lit.: I Henry IV]bubblessymbolic of transitoriness of life. [Art: Hall, 54]cherry faircherry orchards where fruit was briefly sold; symbolic of transience. of all this is disconcerting dis��con��cert?tr.v. dis��con��cert��ed, dis��con��cert��ing, dis��con��certs1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass.2. to those of us used to abasically textual presentation with supporting photographs. Given thatthis is a photographic essay with supporting text, this is a trulyremarkable achievement. The text exudes the geographer's concernwith integration and interrelationship in��ter��re��late?tr. & intr.v. in��ter��re��lat��ed, in��ter��re��lat��ing, in��ter��re��latesTo place in or come into mutual relationship.in and for its literary andprofessional skills is well received by this reviewer. Yet, it is almosttoo overpowering and all encompassing for the series of staticphotographs, which, one presumes, purport to be the landscapemanifestations of the processes described. Thirty-five photographs follow in this particular chapter, theirimpact varying for each individual reader but never for this reviewerequalling the sum of the parts. Like the points in some Pisarro paintingthey remain just that, points in a picture painted in words in theintroductory pages. Could it be otherwise? Probably not, because of theauthor's devotion to the photographic image. Given this, the authorperhaps wisely reports that: "The captions accompanying thephotographs are intended to provide basic information as well as a fewpoints of interest about the changes in each pair. Common sense andlimited space, however, imposed constraints, and it is left to thereader to explore and interpret the bulk of the photographicevidence." What does this volume have to say to readers of the Urban HistoryReview? In Chapter 3, Martin describes the process by which rural farmland is converted into city-scape as urban expansion and concomitantland speculation drive farm values to a point where "optimumeconomic rent" necessitates the conversion of low return grain orpasture to subdivision or parking lot. Until the residential zonereaches a particular location, the land is part of a zone of"blight." It is perhaps because the author has lived throughthis experience that the photographs in this section are so very apt.Paired photographs, taken only two years apart, show the remnants oftrees pulled from superb farmland to be replaced by the non-descriptarchitecture which passes for modernity and "progress."Another plate (#58) shows literally the signs of the city to come andthen farm buildings being razed to add to the recently constructedshopping centre. The most dramatic plate relates to a section of Etobicoke, which,in the space of 15 years, was utterly transformed with the building ofHighway 401. But the plates on pages 68 and 69 are equally asmeaningful. On the former, cows graze in front of a barn-yard, locatedthree kilometres from Woodstock; in the background grain is stacked. Inthe subsequent shot of this same location 70 years later, the cows,grain and barn-yard are all gone; the landscape in an "eclipsedform" awaits the inevitable factories and housing. Page 69 shows anold rural road being remade re��made?v.Past tense and past participle of remake. as a city street, the street incorporating aplaque commemorating a world famous dairy cow and the farm whence itcame! In a chapter on hamlets and villages, Martin documents the steadydecline in the villages and hamlets as changing spatial relation Noun 1. spatial relation - the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated; "the position of the hands on the clock"; "he specified the spatial relations of every piece of furniture on the stage"position shipsand transportation affect their functions, but plate 88 serves to remindone that change can be revolutionary. This plate shows the village ofIroquois whose heart was destroyed to accommodate the St. LawrenceSeaway Noun 1. St. Lawrence Seaway - a seaway involving the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes that was developed jointly by Canada and the United States; oceangoing ships can travel as far west as Lake SuperiorSaint Lawrence Seaway and its associated hydro-electric scheme. The subsequent chapter distinguishes between village and town onthe basis, of course, of function and size, but also on the "ruleof thumb" that at the centre of a town, the "downtown",would have at least a block built up with three storey structures. Thechapter reminds us of the ever present agent of fire as a force forchange, that the roads of these towns were not asphalt and requiredboardwalks and that the past is manifest most especially at second floorlevel since first floors have often been removed from the street becauseof the aesthetic offence they create. In chapter 6, entitled "Cities," the stress is upontechnology, which, Martin holds, set in motion the building of the cityby improvements in transportation, and which provided the means ofvertical expansion. The chapter shows how much that was fine in our older cities hasbeen drastically affected by the banking industry, by the city fathersand by those bent on Adj. 1. bent on - fixed in your purpose; "bent on going to the theater"; "dead set against intervening"; "out to win every event"bent, dead set, out to "urban renewal." Much that was distinctand pleasing has been removed to be replaced by the bland. This is wellillustrated by pages 124 and 125, which serve to illustrate not only thechanges in transportation from trolley-car to omnibus to automobile, butthe wanton Grossly careless or negligent; reckless; malicious.The term wanton implies a reckless disregard for the consequences of one's behavior. A wanton act is one done in heedless disregard for the life, limbs, health, safety, reputation, or property rights of destruction of much that was pleasing in St. George'sSquare, Guelph. It is also exemplified on pages 140 and 141, in photographs ofToronto Street, in the city of that name. This, Martin notes, has beendescribed "as the street which died"; a street from which"perhaps the finest grouping of nineteenth century commercialbuildings on the continent" was removed to accommodate a parkinggarage and some office buildings, including an architectural monstrosity monstrosity1. great congenital deformity.2. a monster or teratism. erected on behalf of Revenue Canada. Here, as else where, Martin doesnot mince words, and since his values are mine I am sympathetic. The chapter also contains useful photographs that illustrate theprocess by which streetscapes are changed as fire destroys, as streetsare incorporated into the city replacing pine trees with telephone postsand concrete buildings. There is much to lament here, but there are alsopositive reminders. Our city streets have less mud and fewer"pot-holes" and the twentieth-century city is, at night, muchbetter lit than its earlier counter-part, which in the absence ofstreet-lighting was pitch black unless the moon shone. Well enough! There are other chapters germane to those interestedin things urban such as transportation and industry, chapters which canalso stand in their own right, but these three serve to "savour theflavour." This book will be of interest to urban and social historians, tolandscape architects and to cultural and historical geographers. Itpresents some marked contrasts, even for those who might be expected tobe so familiar with landscape to admit to surprise; one of the mosttelling demonstrations is that trees are now more abundant than at anytime during the past century. The book can be used as illustrativematerial in teaching. Who will buy it? I am not sure, but we will all be grateful thatthis innovative piece exists. I am sure the author hopes that his bookwill be a financial success. In a day and age in which governmentphilosophy seems to be that success is to be measured in dollars, we mayhave to be grateful to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, the CanadaCouncil, the Ontario Arts Council and the Office of the Secretary ofState for their insights: works such as this one may well remind us ofthe important function of such agencies. My personal thanks to VirgilMargin. John Clarke John Clarke may be: John Clarke (1609-1676), the co-founder of Rhode Island John Clarke, the pseudonym adopted by Richard Cromwell after his abdication John Clarke (dean of Salisbury) (1682-1757), dean of Salisbury Cathedral, mathematician, natural philosopher, and Department of Geography Carleton University Carleton University,at Ottawa, Ont., Canada; nonsectarian; coeducational; founded 1942 as Carleton College. It achieved university status in 1957. It has faculties of arts, social sciences, science, engineering, and graduate studies, as well as the Centre for Ottawa