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The Canadians playfully, affectionately and informatively re-imagines one of the most revered photography books of the 20th century, Robert Frank’s The Americans. The source for the imagery is the print archive of The Globe and Mail, over 20,000 prints, all of which have been donated to the newly-formed Canadian Institute of Photography housed within the National Gallery of Canada. Eighty of these photographs have been selected for this book and will also form the basis of a national touring exhibition. These functionary press photographs, made to illustrate news stories (such as the state of the roads after a severe winter, a politician on the campaign trail or the opening of a new laundromat) held no pretensions to be works of photographic art. Taken together, however, they describe Canadian culture during a time of transformation.

The book begins with an insightful and irreverent introduction by Douglas Coupland, bringing together themes illuminated in these photographs and taking us on a guided tour of a Canada gone but not forgotten.