Steltzer, Ulli. Coast of Many Faces. Photographs by Ulli Steltzer of British Columbia. Signed.

Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver, 1979. First edition, hardcover, fine with very good protected dust jacket that has edge wear.  212 pages. Inscribed “For Eloise with much love from Ulli.”  In this book, Ulli Steltzer provides more than 200 photographs taken in British Columbia, Canada, of people and places, with text by Catherine Kerr. They previously published Indian Artists at Work.  Coast of Many Faces includes detailed maps of the numerous places mentioned. Chapters: The Mouth of the Nass River; The North Coast of the Mainland; The Central Coast of the Mainland; From Kingcome Inlet to Johnstone Strait; The Lower West Coast of Vancouver Island; The Upper West Coast of Vancouver Island; the North of Vancouver Island; and The Queen Charlotte Islands. Known for her photographs of Native Peoples, Ulli Steltzer (1923-2018) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. She moved to North America in 1953 with two small children and developed her photographic skills while working for the Princeton Packet, a New Jersey, newspaper.  In 1972, she settled in Vancouver. An obituary is available at https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/obituary-ulli-steltzer-photographer-with-a-social-conscience.  Note: photos of book with this listing have reflections. Summary:

Coast of Many Faces (1979) is a landmark photographic exploration of life along the British Columbia coast that blends striking visual documentation with the voices of the people who live there. It was created by Ulli Steltzer, a German-born photographer known for her humanistic documentary work, and Catherine Kerr, who provides the text and narrative context.

📖 Overview

The book is structured as a photo-essay and oral history, containing more than 200 black-and-white photographstaken by Steltzer along the 14,000-mile coastline of British Columbia, from remote Indigenous villages to fishing outposts and mill towns. Instead of a conventional narrative, the book pairs evocative images with extracts from taped interviews and personal recollections gathered from the people who live in these communities — fishermen, loggers, cooks, elders, children, and other everyday residents.

📍 Themes and Focus

Coast of Many Faces aims to portray the human and cultural diversity of coastal life — not just the dramatic landscape, but the rhythms, challenges, and traditions that define it. The photographs capture candid moments of daily life: faces weathered by ocean winds, work in fishing villages, time spent in small coastal settlements, and scenes of both isolation and community.

The accompanying text, curated by Kerr from interviews, gives voice to the photographed subjects themselves. It reflects on community identity, changes brought by modernization, and life lived in close connection to the land and sea. The result is both a visual record and a composite narrative shaped by the words and experiences of the coastal inhabitants.

📌 Structure

The book divides the vast region into distinct geographic sections — including areas such as the Nass River mouth, the North and Central Mainland coasts, and parts of Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands — making it both a geographic and cultural survey.

🖼️ Style and Impact

Steltzer’s photography is noted for its direct, empathetic engagement with its subjects, avoiding staged portraiture in favor of authentic visual storytelling. Combined with Kerr’s text — drawn from the voices of the people themselves — the book creates a rich, layered portrait of coastal life that emphasizes community memory, tradition, and resilience in the face of changing times.

In essence, Coast of Many Faces is both a visual journey through one of Canada’s most varied and rugged regions and an oral history that lets the communities along the coast speak for themselves.