How does he do it?
North Vancouver photographer Ralph Bower estimates that of the thousands of photographs he shot during his 40-plus years with the Vancouver Sun, 4,000 photographs ran in the paper. Of those 4,000, the consensus is that the moment that Ralph’s camera caught was always the right moment.
Ralph gives the credit for his photographs to his subjects.
For him, it’s all about the people, from the famous and the infamous to the zookeepers and the loggers, the welders and the teachers. And, lest we forget, the animals, from water-skiing squirrels to bear cub bookends. Ralph estimates to have taken about 500 photographs of animals that made Page One of the Sun. “That’s a lot of clickin’,” he says.
“Ralph always gets the best shot,” explains North Shore News photographer Mike Wakefield.
“He taught me that photography is five per cent pushing the button. The rest is how you treat people. When Ralph was in North Vancouver on assignment, he’d say, ‘Hey, kid, it’s all yours. Get a great shot, I know you can do it.’”
To get that special shot, the photographer has to be in the right place at the right time.
In Ralph’s day, there was no way of knowing where or when that would be.
Those were the days of reloading the camera with fresh rolls of film, of making every shot count.
Ralph’s photograph of logger Danny Sailor racing his own hat down a tree trunk at the Squamish Loggers Festival, and winning, is a case in point.
“I didn’t know until I got into the darkroom if I got anything worthwhile. It was a great surprise to see Danny and his hat in the frame together.”
Sixty years ago, on June 17, 1958, Ralph was in the right place at the right time.
He was at Hastings Park racetrack, when his two-way radio crackled into life.
“I was at the bridge in minutes, first photographer on the scene,” he says. Ralph arrived in time to document the aftermath of what may be our city’s greatest disaster, when 19 men died when the Second Narrows Bridge collapsed.
He points to a group of prints of the bridge deck in pieces, surrounded by a flotilla of tugs and small watercraft.
“I was walking right there two weeks before, shooting the guys at work building the bridge.”
The prints are currently mounted on boards according to topic: news, sports, politicians, children and animals, North Vancouver.
Ralph is preparing for an exhibition of his work at the City of North Vancouver municipal hall opening Friday, June 15.
It took 17 years for Ralph to organize the 4,000 photographs that ran in The Vancouver Sun into an archive.
“Every envelope of negatives I opened, opened up more memories and stories. Some envelopes might have 20 negatives and maybe we only printed four of them. I was looking at shots from 40 or 50 years ago that never made the paper.”
Ralph selected 200 of his favourite photographs for this exhibition. It’s a record of a time and a place, the story of a city. Of two cities, in fact. For not only do Ralph’s photographs chronicle Vancouver’s story over 40 years, they are a visual record of North Vancouver’s story, too.
Born June 16, 1934, at North Vancouver Hospital, Ralph attended Ridgeway school and “like every kid in North Vancouver in those days, we all met up at North Vancouver High School.
“Mostly, I was a gas jockey after school and on weekends. After graduation, I had a summer job as a copy boy at the Vancouver Sun and then I was going Cates Towing to train as a bookkeeper. That’s what I told Harry Filion, my boss at the paper, but I never went back to Cates. I am the luckiest guy. I got to photograph people every day, and every day was a surprise.”
Here is Ralph’s hometown as it was, and the people who made it so. Some of the stories, like the Second Narrows Bridge collapse, are tragic. Others are personal.
The exhibition is dedicated to his schoolmate Harry Jerome.
“I dedicated the show to Harry because, in my opinion, he is North Vancouver’s most important sports person.”
Harry ran 100 yards in 9.2 seconds in 1962 and became the world’s fastest man. Ralph’s photograph of Harry at top speed is there, along with another schoolmate, Sonny Homer, who played 11 seasons with the B.C. Lions, and Sonny’s brother, Don, in the boxing ring.
There is Karen Magnussen, champion figure skater and pitcher Buster Moberg. There’s fire chief Dick Hallaway and mayor Jack Loucks.
Ralph Bower’s photography exhibition will be on display at the City of North Vancouver municipal hall Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 15 to July 3.
“I chose city hall for the exhibition to give the people of North Vancouver a smile when they come in to pay their taxes,” he says.
Everyone is invited to the opening reception on Thursday, June 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Also, if you drop in make sure to wish Ralph Bower, ace photographer and North Vancouver treasure, a happy birthday.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. Contact her at 778-279-2275 or email her at [email protected].
