Poo With a View

ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Gavin Boutet, the creator of Poo With a View, a really unique take on a photography book. What’s the basic premise behind this book?

GAVIN BOUTET: It’s essentially an idea that I came up with working with the Alpine Club of Canada as a hut services worker. We would go into the backcountry locations that the Alpine Club operates and make sure that facilities were in good repair. It seemed quite obvious that these unique and vital buildings out in the middle of nowhere may be the true unsung heroes and needed a bit of recognition.

RM: Some of these outhouses are in some really picturesque locations, aren’t they?

GB: It showcases a lot of these famous areas, but a little bit of a different angle not as commonly seen. Areas like the famous Lake Louise – there’s an outhouse right in behind if you hadn’t known.

RM: It was part of your job to service these outhouses then?

GB: Yes, I started back in 2011 and was a hut services manager for about four to five years there. In the short summer months, generally we would fly into these locations to empty the outhouse barrels, fly those out, fly in firewood, propane. It was a good opportunity to explore our backcountry with a purpose, but I suppose I’ve created a slightly different purpose with that opportunity.

RM: Do you have a particular photo that’s your favorite? A particular favorite outhouse backdrop?

GB: I’m partial to the one on the cover, which is the old Neil Colgan outhouse that’s in the Valley of the Ten Peaks behind Moraine Lake. At the time the photo was taken it was the highest permanent outhouse in Canada. Part of my job was to help tear that outhouse down in 2013. We did a renovation on the hut and the deck and rebuilt the outhouse next to the hut for safety reasons. For those that have seen the cover, the outhouse shown there was in a bit of a state of disrepair. It was quite drafty, to say the least.

RM: I just popped over to your book’s page on Amazon – looking at the sales ranking, it’s actually selling really well.

GB: After a bit I had with CTV in September my sales went all the way into the Top 100 on Amazon.ca. I was quite surprised and obviously quite overwhelmed and happy. It’s doing a lot better than I expected, but it’s an interesting topic and it’s the first of its kind to my knowledge.

RM: Is there a place locally where people can pick up Poo With a View?

GB: Yes, I’ve just received my bulk order for distribution here in the Bow Valley. They are for sale in Lake Louise at Viewpoint in the Samson Mall, and in Banff at the Whyte Museum gift shop and Last Temptation Thrift. Here in Canmore, we have Café Books, Wapiti Sports, The Tin Box, and Valhalla Pure. They’re signed, and I’m looking forward to seeing more friends and family once the pandemic calms down. It’s a tough time to try and do a book release. People that know can give me a shout or shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to respond and maybe send you out a copy by hand.