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Northern Enrapture

Reuben Sallows ventured out of his studio to photograph was he knew best - the farm. But it wasn't until he got an invitation in 1907 that he discovered another outdoor destination of fascination - northern Ontario.

1907-08 - according to letter from John E. Gow to H.S. Turner, Nov 25, 1941 -
"About 1907-08, I had seen some of his (Sallows) pictures in Toronto papers, and I was then living 60 miles below Montreal on the north shore. I had seen so many nice subjects I took a chance and wrote saying I would board him free for a few days, and show him round if he cared to come. He came, almost on the next train - his first visit beyond Toronto, I think, and he spent 4 or 5 days with me. I hired a rig and drove him about and he got pictures which he sold afterwards all over the country, for postcards, and newspaper illustrations. My French was poor, but we got along. One day I took him some 5 or 6 miles up river where he got a windmill picture. Then I hired an old boat and rowed him across the St. Lawrence where there was a much better mill. Coming back a squall struck us, and I was in grave doubt that we could make shore. And would you believe this: He had been a sailor on the Great Lakes for quite a few years, 13 or 16 years, and could not swim a stroke. I asked him to use a paddle to help me keep the boat headed into the waves, but he couldn't. I was a very poor oarsman, but managed to make the lee of a point and we were safe. When he asked me if we were in any danger, I said no, and laughed it off. He was sitting in the stern with his heavy camera and heavier box of dry plates, and was about 190 lbs himself. All's well that ends well. Later he sent me copies of all the pictures, and took a photo of me, in his studio, with my hat and o'coat on. He seemed to think that was the natural way for me. That visit was forerunner of his many excursions thereafter."

This trip was not the last for Reuben. From 1907 into the 1920s, Reuben continued to travel north in the fall and winter to capture the many wild beauties and the human activity going on in the northern country.