Changing Landscapes of Southern Ontario

Our surroundings are always changing, particularly in our cities and town. But the pace of the changes throughout rural Ontario is slower and more difficult to observe.

In this unusual book, carefully matched before-and-after photographs are used to explore Southern Ontario's landscapes. As might be expected, the photos depict a dramatic reworking of the urban environment, particularly on the "urban frontier" where the countryside is disappearing under a wave of development. But even our seemingly changeless rural society, when viewed with the aid of time-lapse photography, is shown to be evolving - and in some unexpected ways. For example, the photos clearly show that trees aer generally more abundant now than at any time during the past century.

This book is primarily a large and comprehensive collection of paired photographs. It provides the reader with a unique opportunity to explore and asses the many facets of Southern Ontario's changing landscapes.

Born in 1952, Virgil Martin grew up in St. Jacobs, a village near Waterloo, Ontario.