At the dawn of the 20th century, Lance Burdon launched a career in photography, embarking on a photographic journey that provides an inside look at pioneer life on Fidalgo Island during early eras of hop and dairy farming, boomtown schemes, steamboat travel, salmon fishing and the beginnings of industrialization.
Special event: When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 21 Where: Anacortes Public Library. Join Anacortes Museum Educator Bret Lunsford and Nancy Werner Mathews’ family for a slide show and presentation celebrating the release of Lance Burdon: A Photographic JourneyHis own story — one of courageous exploration and tragedy — is illustrated with beautiful prints taken during his years on the island and as official photographer for the construction of the Atlin-Quesnel telegraph line from lower British Columbia to Alaska in 1900.
The book is a labor of love, written by Nancy Werner Mathews, a granddaughter whom Burdon never met. After Nancy died in 2012, her family and friends worked together to publish this book as a tribute to her.
The book is lavishly illustrated with 115 photographs, most of them Burdon’s, from the museum’s Wallie Funk Collection and private collections. Museum Educator Bret Lunsford edited the book and provided photo captions and photo section introductions.
Lance Burdon: A Photographic Journey was made possible by generous donations from Mathews’ family and friends to the Anacortes Museum Foundation. Proceeds from the sale of this book will fund a Nancy Werner Mathews endowment for use in future museum book projects through the Museum Foundation.
Lance Burdon: A Photographic Journey. Published by the Anacortes Museum Foundation and funded by memorial gifts in the author’s honor, the book will be available in the Anacortes Museum Store in mid-March. Hardcover, 112 pages, with more than 100 historic photographs. Cost: $35. Available March 21.