MEET YOUR HOST: Lifelong Sault photographer captures imaginations in SPACES

Bob McGauley has been capturing the beauty of Sault Ste. Marie since 1957. 

His intrigue began in a pile of trash in a laneway near his house when he was 10 years old. 

During spring cleanup, there was a neighbourhood tradition where everybody would throw unwanted junk into an alley that linked two parallel streets. 

“We as kids, being kids, especially being boys, would rummage through all these piles looking for treasures,” McGauley says from his home in the Sault. “Well, in one of these piles I found a Kodak Hawkeye Brownie camera.” 

Diverting the iconic piece of equipment from the dump, young McGauley’s passion for capturing artful photos began. 

He purchased a roll of 620 film and got to work. His dad set him up with a darkroom in the basement, and for the next seven years he got his feet wet in the world of photography — capturing the landscapes in his own backyard with the mid-century-model camera.

Since then he’s snapped his way through a 35mm, his first digital point-and-shoot to Nikon DSLR cameras. 

Now, McGauley is at the helm of the Photography space, in the new homegrown social network called SPACES, where he takes pride in sharing the beauty of the Algoma region with his community. 

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See his photographs of glimmering lights from dawn in Bellevue Park, a mirror image in Crystal Creek, a unique composition of the waterfront, one moonlit evening on the boardwalk, the marina, covered in snow, the city’s first dusting of snow this year, the Country Church and how he captured cloud cover at Old Mill Bay and Jones Landing in Batchawana Bay.

Over the years, his photography has evolved into a weekly community gathering. Every Friday, he invites anyone to join him on his weekly hike, where a group of 10 to 15 photogs set out on the hunt for the best shot. 

“When I do take pictures I reluctantly tell people where I am only because in the past some people have gone and destroyed those sites,” he says. “But I say, if you really want to know and really want to see some of the stuff I do, I do Friday trips. So a lot of these people are coming along only because they want to see some of the stuff that I see.”

He spends all week mulling over where he’ll take his group, as it’s at the mercy of inclement weather, seasonal changes and flies. 

“That's what I’m doing right now,” he says over the phone, as he sets the plan in place. He chooses a meeting spot and time, suggests equipment and tells participants to bring lunch.

Beginning during the pandemic as a way to get out, he rarely misses a regular hike. He values the camaraderie of the gang, thoughtful discussion, the search for beautiful vistas, and if anyone asks, some mentorship while looking through the lens.    

“We went out last Friday, even though we got 2.5 feet of snow and just strapped on our snowshoes, then we walked 9 km to Crystal Lake,” he says. 

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McGauley retired from Algoma Steel in 2004 after working in the information services department for 33 years. Getting out of the city to study mathematics with a minor in physics at the University of Waterloo briefly, he has called the Sault home for most of his life. He sticks to landscape photography in the region — steering clear of portraits. Though he does sometimes take photos of his first car, a 1972 Dodge Challenger. 

“I have my first car and my first wife,” he jokes. 

He finds inspiration at the huge bluff west of the Sault, Gros Cap, where Lake Superior meets the St. Marys River. Part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, his group watches the lake freighters pass through. 

Their admiration runs from the bottom of the bluff to the top. “We can spend hours there exploring the kind of vegetation you see and the little rivers and the ponds. And then, of course, the gorgeous view that you get when you get up to the edge,” he says.

Lake Superior Provincial Park to the north is a draw for its gorgeous walkways and waterfalls and the breathtaking views over Lake Superior. Sometimes the group will do pieces of the coastal trail of Lake Superior, for the rugged adventure. For their summer treks, they sometimes head out to Bathtub Island, just off the sand beach.

“Even though it's the same spot in the wintertime, the waves coming off Lake Superior if the lake is open will create big ice formations on the shore. And so one of the hikes during the wintertime will be to go and explore these caves and these bridges and all these ice formations that go on. That's one of the highlights of the winter for me,” he says. 

Other notable local destinations he mentions are Katherine Cove, Hiawatha Highlands and Coppermine Point Lighthouse. 

“We get up onto that bluff and look out over the water and talk about that day in 1975 when SS Edmund Fitzgerald went down,” he adds. 

To the east, the Garden River First Nation Reserve that overlooks the North Channel is another journey he does with the group. 

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Beyond the rock formations, flowing rivers and changing weather patterns, McGauley’s aim is more than awe-inspiring. 

“I’m relating something spiritual to people and some people are getting it, other people aren't. But it doesn't matter because the meanings are still there,” he says. 

About 10 years ago, his camera work led him to explore a deep connection between photography and spirituality, which he still studies with his mentor, Richard Choe. 

“When I'm looking at a scene through the viewfinder of the camera, I'm thinking, is there a message here of some sort? Is there a spiritual message that if I just frame this properly, people might get it.” 

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Hoping to help his audience see the world in a new light, McGauley has amassed millions of photos of the region over the years. 

His other mission? To help others take impressive photos. He shared the 28 rules he follows, in SPACES. Connect with him there, say hi, and join him for a weekly hike.