Five years ago, I announced the preparation of a book featuring photographs from the Eighties Vancouver portfolio. Fans of the collection voted for their favourite images to be included. I began writing “blurbs” to go with the photos. I wrote an introduction and a fellow photographer wrote a forward. I engaged an editor to oversee the project. Then fate intervened.

Without going into detail, a series of health challenges knocked the project onto the back burner. And, to be honest, my YouTube Channel (please subscribe) took away a lot of my time. Ironically, my latest health challenges, including two cancer surgeries in the last 8 months, have sort of focussed my attention back on book projects — yes, plural — to see them through to completion.

The final proof has just come back from the printer and I’m pretty excited to go over it, make any corrections and revisions, and ready it for final printing and sales. I anticipate copies for sale before the end of the summer — as early as August. The first edition is a small 7″x 7″ soft cover containing 88 pages and 40 photographs. This will be the most affordable edition. An expanded, 12″ x 12″ hard cover is in the works. Books will be available via a link from this site.

Here’s hoping that some of the people who expressed interest in the project five years ago have not given up! Believe me, this has been a dream of mine since I began documenting the changing urban landscape of Vancouver, 40 years ago.

About the “blurbs,” which have presented the greatest challenge — the photos, of course, have been around for a long time: they are a mix of historical notes, contemporary updates, technical notes, and personal memoir. I hope readers will find them interesting. You will have chance to peruse an excerpt before ordering. I’d be interested to know if you are interested and, especially, if you’ve hung in there for five years! You can email me at: info@raymondparkerphoto.com

Please note that the former online shop has been discontinued, since I could not maintain it during my hospital stays. Limited edition prints are still available, however—they look even better than reproductions in this book, which are fabulous themselves! Inquiries invited at the email address above.