What kind of living creature has a small mouth, a body that’s 2,000 kilometers long and is a native of our valley? If you guessed the Columbia River, you’re doing well.

Local photographer and outdoor enthusiast Bram Rossman has published a coffee table-style photography book, dubbed Small Mouth Big River, featuring images from around the Columbia Valley, an area considered the source of the Columbia River.

The headwaters of the Columbia River is in Canal Flats. The watercourse, which includes Columbia Lake, Lake Windermere and the Columbia Wetlands, is the lifeblood of the Columbia valley. “From the height of the Purcells in the west to the height of the Rockies in the east, I wanted to show how everything is connected,” explained Rossman.

Following the changing seasons through the valley from spring to summer and on to fall and winter, the book contains many distinct images of wildlife and local landscapes from each time of year. Iconic valley imagery includes unique shots of Radium’s Bighorn Sheep, Mount Nelson, Chisel Peak, the Columbia Wetlands near Wilmer and many others.

The self-published project, which received some financial support from the Columbia Basin Trust, is the first of its kind for Rossman. “I carry my camera almost everywhere I go, so the toughest part wasn’t gathering the photos for the book, it was trying to narrow down which photos to use out of thousands of possibilities.”

Books are available for purchase through Rossman’s web-site www.ExtremeXposures.ca or by contacting him directly at 250-342-1508 or [email protected].

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