Ralph Bower, Vancouver Sun's legendary photographer, died July 21 at 92
Bower spent 42 years capturing iconic Vancouver moments—from Muhammad Ali wielding an axe to Pavel Bure mid-physical—and was the last of the Sun's legendary postwar photo department.
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Ralph Bower died July 21 at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. He was 92. For 42 years, he was one of Vancouver's most prolific and versatile photographers, capturing moments that defined the city from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Bower was the last of a generation of talented Sun photographers from the 1950s and '60s, when the paper arguably had the top photo department in Canada. He started with a Speed Graphic film camera and ended his career with a digital camera, documenting the collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge on June 17, 1958, and winning a National Newspaper Award in 1985 for a startling photograph of a man holding a baby by the heels out a four-storey window.
But his real strength was sports and feature photography. He photographed Pierre Trudeau doing a jackknife dive into the pool at the Bayshore Hotel, a waterskiing squirrel at a Sportsmen's show, and Muhammad Ali wielding an axe at the Vancouver airport in 1972. "He grabbed the axe and yelled, 'I'm going to Stanley Park to cut trees to get in shape for the fight!'" said Bower. His most renowned hockey shot came in 2004 when he photographed Pavel Bure shirtless getting a physical at Canucks training camp. Though photos were banned from NHL dressing rooms, Bower argued Bure wasn't in the dressing room. When he later gave Bure a print, the player said: "Oh, I didn't know you were working for Playboy now."
Bower was born June 16, 1934, in North Vancouver and lived on the same block his entire life. He started dating his wife Joan in high school. August 4 would have been their 70th wedding anniversary. In 1955, his high school pal Arv Olson landed a job at the Sun and talked Bower into coming along for the summer. That two-month job turned into a 42-year career. "It was the world's greatest job, as far as I was concerned," Bower said.
His last assignment was a Vancouver Canucks game—fitting for someone known around the newsroom as the "Railbird" for his habit of shooting horse racing from along the rail at the track. He kept a print of nearly all his published photographs and mounted several exhibitions in retirement.
The details
When did Ralph Bower die?
Ralph Bower died on July 21 at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver at the age of 92.
How long did Ralph Bower work as a photographer?
Bower spent 42 years as a photographer for the Vancouver Sun, working from the 1950s through the 1990s.
What was Bower's most famous hockey photograph?
In 2004, Bower photographed Pavel Bure shirtless during a physical at Canucks training camp, a shot that became renowned despite photos being banned from NHL dressing rooms.
