Magicians of Light: Photographs from the Collection of the National Gallery of Canada by James Borcoman.

National Gallery of Canada, 1993. First edition. Wraps, fine, like new, with custom made 4-mil polyester jacket. Foreword by Shirley L. Thomson. 116 plates; 9.25 x 11.5 inches. 295 pages. Although substantially larger, similar in format to John Szarkowski's Looking at Photographs, with one page of text by James Borcoman facing one photograph.  Most of the 19th and 20th century photographers, each represented by one photograph, are not Canadian and most are recognized masters although some are represented by less well known images. Appendices include a catalog of the holdings of the Photograph Collection, listing more than 1,200 photographers, and other useful information.  Summary:

Magicians of Light (National Gallery of Canada, 1993) is an expansive illustrated catalog that celebrates the art of photography through the lens of one of Canada’s most significant museum collections. Edited and written by James Borcoman, the founding curator of the National Gallery of Canada’s photography department, the book accompanies an exhibition of the same name and assembles a wide range of historic and modern photographs drawn from the Gallery’s holdings.

Spanning nearly 300 pages with roughly 117 reproduced works, the volume presents images by both renowned and lesser‑known photographers, representing diverse styles, periods, and cultural contexts. Each photograph is paired with a concise biographical note on the artist and contextual commentary by Borcoman, which helps explain the work’s artistic significance, technical qualities, and place within the evolution of the medium.

The book emphasizes photography’s role as a collective visual memory and an expressive art form, tracing thematic threads through documentary work, portraiture, landscape, experimental and expressive photography. Borcoman’s introductions and captions provide not only formal and historical insights but also reflections on how these images shape and reflect cultural understanding.

With its combination of museum‑quality reproductions, critical writing, and documentary context, Magicians of Light serves both as a comprehensive survey of the National Gallery of Canada’s photography collection circa the early 1990s and as a primer on the diversity and expressive power of photographic practice.

While the book spans a broad range, some of the most prominent photographers featured include:

Historical and Early Photographers

• William Henry Fox Talbot – Pioneer of the calotype process, early documentary and artistic photography.

• Julia Margaret Cameron – Known for her soft-focus, expressive portraits in the Victorian era.

• Eadweard Muybridge – Famous for motion studies and sequential photography.

• Alfred Stieglitz – American modernist who advanced photography as an art form.

• Edward Weston – Modernist photographer, celebrated for landscapes and close-up studies.

Documentary and Social Photographers

• Lewis Hine – Iconic images of child labor and industrial America.

• Dorothea Lange – Depression-era documentary photography capturing human resilience.

• Walker Evans – Known for his portraits of the American vernacular during the 1930s.

Contemporary and Experimental Photographers

• Minor White – Spiritual and expressive black-and-white photography.

• Barbara Kasten – Geometric, abstract photography using light and shadow.

• Hiroshi Sugimoto – Conceptual photographic explorations of time and memory.

• Richard Avedon – Iconic portraiture capturing psychological depth in his subjects.