If a picture tells a thousand words, local photographer Mike Crane has been busy composing an essay about Whistler for the upcoming Picture B.C. website. Crane has been chosen to tell Whistler’s story through six of his photographs on the site, which is due to launch in December.

“I tried to give a good spectrum of what Whistler’s about,” Crane said of the photos he selected for Picture B.C. He’s submitted action shots of skiing and mountain biking, a scenic hiking photo and a winter shot from the Village, he said.

Crane was chosen from six applicants by the selection committee, which included members of Whistler’s Public Art Committee. The Picture B.C. site is designed to showcase the beauty and diversity of British Columbia with six photographs of each of the province’s 160 incorporated communities.

For each community a single photographer will be chosen to provide the six images, and each photographer will be paid for her or his work and recognized with a biography on the website. The site is a joint venture by the Knowledge Network and the Union of B.C. Municipalities, with involvement by the Ministry of Tourism Sports and Arts.

“I was honoured that I would be representing Whistler,” Crane said of being selected to depict Whistler through photographs on the website. He said he thinks the Picture B.C. website is a neat idea.

Crane, 29, first came to Whistler in 2000 “for everything that’s associated with being in the mountains,” he said. But then he left to travel around the world, and it was during his travels in Japan, Australia, France and other countries that his passion for photography was born. Crane said he bought his first 35 mm camera when he was in Japan.

“Through my travels I just became more and more passionate about photography,” he said.

Crane returned to Whistler full time in 2004 and started selling his photos at the Whistler Farmers’ Market. He said his photography career grew from there and about two years ago he took the leap to doing photography full time.

Crane currently does photography for weddings, commercial photography for organizations such as Tourism Whistler, and editorial photography for publications both local and international. Visit www.mikecranephotography.com to view some of his work.