There is something special about the 1000 Islands as summer turns to fall. Colour begins to pop among the pines, the water is quieter, and the low sun lights up the granite shoreline.
On days like these, it’s tempting to put off closing the cottage for a little longer.
Ian knew that feeling all too well.
“As unpleasant as leaving the islands always is, perhaps being away is what makes going back so incredibly special,” he once wrote.
So he stayed as long as he could. Eventually, the cold would make his woodstove-heated cottage less comfortable, and it would be time. But those final weeks offered some wonderful opportunities to be out with his camera. Ian described “one of those spectacularly calm and beautiful autumn River days that can only occur after summer’s traffic has evaporated.”
Anyone who has spent time here in October will understand why.
Fall also typically marked the return of his wallpapers. Many of you will remember them arriving by email through the winter, each with a photograph to put on your computer screen and a story, an update or a question about where it had been taken. Ian understood that people missed the River because he missed it too. Sharing his photographs made the months away more enjoyable and gave everyone something to look forward to.
Over the years, those emails became a conversation. Readers identified islands, shared family memories and added details about places Ian had photographed. He welcomed their knowledge, often including their replies. There was always more to learn, even about a place he had spent so long exploring.
That is the tradition this journal hopes to continue.
We have updated the website with a greater focus on Ian’s photography, making it easier to explore his work and find a piece of art to bring home. Here in the journal, we will share photographs from his archive, revisit his writing and welcome stories from people whose own lives and memories are connected to the River.
Our hope is that Ian’s words will remain an important part of these stories. He wrote with the same interest and enthusiasm that brought him out with his camera, and there is so much in his original writing worth sharing again.
Fall feels like the right time to begin. As cottages close and boats come out of the water, these pages offer another way to enjoy the River until you can get back.
Fall feels like the right time to begin. As cottages close and boats come out of the water, these pages offer another way to enjoy the River until you can get back.
Do you have a favourite fall memory or a story connected to one of Ian’s photographs? We would love to hear it.
