Otto Landauer was a modest man. He was proud of Vancouver, felt strongly that his photographs recorded the continuum of the history of the city and he had an archivist’s determination that the photos he produced with such loving care, like those of his predecessor, Leonard Frank, should be preserved for posterity. But it never would have occurred to Landauer that his personal story mattered. Yet it does. In a substantial introductory biography, Bridges of Light tells the harrowing, heartbreaking and ultimately redeeming story of persecution, survival and the final triumph of Otto Landauer’s intrepid faith. It is inseparable from the art of his photographs, and his superb craftsmanship matters to anyone concerned with or at all interested in the history of photography. Otto Landauer was part of a long line of great photographers of the Canadian West, and in the medium of black and white, he was at the magnificent end of that line.

A companion piece to and continuation of An Enterprising Life, the first volume in the Leonard Frank Studio publications, Bridges of Light is a beautiful photo art book containing over 300 photographs reproduced in exquisite 200 line screen duotones on wood-free paper.

Cyril E. Leonoff
Cyril E. Leonoff is a retired professional engineer and historian who has written on both engineering and on the history of British Columbia and Western Canada. His previous book published by Talonbooks in 1990, An Enterprising Life: Photographs of Leonard Frank, won numerous awards including the B.C. Book Prize, City of Vancouver Heritage Award and the Alcuin Society Design Award.

Cyril E. Leonoff's profile page

Otto Landauer's profile page