Throughout the 1950s, Jack Cash created photographs for Western Homes and Living (owned by Mitchell Press), mostly of architecture, gardens, food, and recreation. Cash embraced the Western Homes and Living vision: “British Columbia living is of a different kind … a Far West quality related to entirely different geography and climate of this province.” (Western Homes and Living, 1950). On several occasions, Cash would pack up the car and his family – setting off on an adventure that he could capture and sell later.

Each of these photographs was shot in black and white and the colour was added later to the final large-scale print. Cash worked closely with a female contractor who hand painted all of his black and white photographs. These adventures fueled Cash’s interests in views of otherwise untouched wilderness. In contrast to his documentation of industrial progress, Cash’s images of nature invite the spectator to enter the frame and escape.

Eventually the beauty of British Columbia lured Jack Cash out of the photography studio. In the early 1960s, Cash began a charter boat business with his second wife, Elva. Throughout his later years (1968-84), Cash steered his clients along the coast of British Columbia in his boat, “The Columbian” and took them into the painted landscapes he had created decades before.

A NATURE
PHOTOGRAPHER

Jack Cash Timeline

  • 1930s Jack sells first photographs to Vancouver Province and Vancouver Sun
  • 1939 Jack joins Burrard Dry Dock as sole staff photographer
  • 1940s Jack focuses primarily on wartime ship construction and the logging industry
  • 1956 Jack opens the first Jack Cash Studios Ltd. at 1629 Marine Drive
  • 1957 Jack ends his freelance work with Burrard Dry Dock
  • 1960s Jack focuses on commercial customers from advertising, construction, and editorial
  • 1961 Jack moves his photography studio to 1469 Marine Drive
  • 1963 Jack starts charter boat business
  • 1970s Jack retires from photography, focuses entirely on operating the “Columbian”
  • 1984 Jack retires from the charter boat business

PHOTO CREDITS

Jack Cash at the helm of his boat, the “Columbian”, ca. 1960s. NVMA Fonds 164

Cash family and car by an Okanagan lake, ca. 1951. NVMA Fonds 164

Wooden bridge over Campbell River, ca. 1956. NVMA Fonds 164

Cash family on vacation in the Okanagan, ca. 1950s. NVMA Fonds 164

Jack Cash’s sons on bridge in Banff, ca. 1950s. NVMA Fonds 164

Canoe on Crater Lake near Merritt, ca. 1957. NVMA Fonds 164