There’s a undeniable mystical appeal to ghost towns. They’re romanticized by Hollywood, countless authors including Canadian Pierre Berton who in conversation inspired me telling me stories about Skookum Jim and ‘Louse City’. Very intriguing and found I them all – well, their remains at least.
It was the autumn of 1969 and decided I needed to undertake a personal photo adventure without a deadline, no client, just me and my trusty Nikon’s, 2 bricks of Kodachrome 64 and 20 odd rolls of HP3. A tripod which I never did use, a 24mm 2.8 wide angle, 55mm 3.5 macro, 105mm 2.5 and a 200mm f4…very frugal as it nicely fitted in single camera bag. As mentioned, this was a personal project and now after 50 years this the first time any of the images have been published or even displayed.
Ford Canada kindly loaned me a very peppy V8 powered Ford Bronco. I was loaded with a stack of old maps, good camping gear and a shoulder bruising .375 Winchester Magnum just in case of Mr. Grisly.
It’s one mother of a drive from Ottawa to Dawson City, but there were enough photo ops along the way to keep it interesting, and to be honest I loved every solitary minute of it. It was late August with mostly good weather and the autumn light in the Yukon was absolutely outstanding for Kodachrome. Most of the locations were very remote, needing a 4WD short wheel base vehicle with good ground clearance… the Bronco was ideal, even then I had a few moments! There’s no CAA to call even if you had a cell phone back in ’69, so it was risky, but a ton of fun.
Regrettably there was very little left. Photographs in the National Archives show towns with as many as 40 structures and I found only the remains of 1-2 foundations, no kidding in some instances there was absolutely nothing visible. Now with ATV’s etc. most of what appears in this article has vanished. New settlers needing the wood for construction and the antique collectors have, alas, carried away all the artifacts.
It’s my sincerest hope these images touch an emotional cord with you!
There’s a truly wonderful world waiting for us to discover and enjoy, so pack up go for it!
There’s an important side bar related to these images. One is their historical value, two is their archival properties, they are as vibrant as the day they came back from the lab 50 plus years ago. And three they are true, no photo shop, no AI. Keep this in mind should you wish to have your images around for future generations.
About the Author – Crombie McNeill
PHOTONews Flash is honoured to see our contributing editor Crombie McNeill featured in CTV News Ottawa. Tune in to hear Crombie’s story and his mission to help those experiencing homelessness.
Crombie McNeill is a unique artist. He’s a world travelled photographer with numerous awards and has been recognized as one of the best editorial photographers in North America. His credits include Time, Newsweek, ELLE, Life, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Chatelaine, Paris Match, McLean’s, En Route to name but a few.
His Odyssey lead him from the Arctic to high fashion magazine shoots to Olympic Games, World Cup events, the depths of the Great Barrier Reef to the altitude with the Snow Birds, interwoven with civil war in Africa, Royalty, presidents to paupers world wide. Not to mention frozen toes at the North Pole.
His photography has been exhibited in galleries across Canada, the United States and Europe and has three books to his credit.
Not one to leave behind the uniqueness of traditional film he’s evolved a blending of photography with both hand applied and computer processing to produce truly unique images.
“The art of photography for me” says Crombie “is to convey a timeless essence with a hint of mystery”.
The National Archives predicts he will be credited as one of Canada’s most significant photographers and is on the list for The Order of Canada. The National Art Gallery of Canada has some of his fine art B&W prints included in their permanent collection.
Crombie is now happily retired, in that he no longer accepts editorial or commercial assignments He now lives in Aylmer, with his wife Sue. “This retirement”, he’s delighted to says, “allows me the freedom to search for those magical B&W images, and to determine the ideal technique by which it should be captured and presented.
Crombie often returns to the peaceful amber glow of his wet darkroom as a respite from his extensive digital lab and art board.
Please enjoy!
Images magnifiques! Quels trésors! Merci!!
Merci!!!
Crombie
Merci Rejean!
These are truly beautiful photographs. Thank you for sharing with us a glimpse of place and time that I will likely never see first hand.
Thanks very much Eleanor,
It’s very gratifying to know these images have struck a cord with you.
Very best and good shooting!
Crombie
Thank you for sharing these
It must feel very eerie to be in the presence of human absence and yet the absence of human noise must be awesome
Thanks Micheline,
I appreciate your response, putting sensitive words defining a very real emotion.
Very best and a very Merry Christmas!
Crombie
Dear Crombie
I loved your article, wonderful and amazing photographs. Its a dream of mine to able able to shoot an old town. I am located in Campbellville Ontario where sadly many of our old farms are being transformed into subdivisions. Roads no longer single lanes but 4-6 lane paved highways. I am taking photos of as many of the old barns and farm houses as possible before they are mowed down. Saving some history.
Thanks very much Robin. Photography is important to record what once was so we can share this with others. Keep Your photography is important so stay the course!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Crombie
Dear Crombie
That was a delight to see your photos. Photographing ghost towns was one of my passion at certain time of my photography journey . You inspired me to go back and dig my archive . One collection I have got is capturing the abandoned Bethlehem steels factory in Buffalo which now has been gone. Also the abandoned ghost towns in the west unfortunately my archive has not been recorded very well you inspired me to go back and look for those historic records. Thank you
Again for those beautiful photos and more importantly the stories beyond each one of them
Striking!!! Can’t beat ghost towns for the haunting detail, and K64 for capturing both the beautiful colours and the exquisite detail.
I moved to BC in 2011 and started searching for some of the ghost towns. The best I came away with was graveyards and foundations. Sad that these are now all gone – there was a haunting beauty in their abandonment and decay.
I have given up on the search photographically, though I am still a student of history and geography/geology. A wonderful collection of Candiana, Crombie.