Notman: A Visionary Photographer ed. by Hélène Samson, Suzanne Sauvage (review)

Paisley-born William Notman (1826–91) emigrated to Montreal in August 1856 in search of a better life. Shortly after arriving he opened a photographic studio. During the 1860s and 1870s he established studios employing over fifty photographers in cities in Quebec, Ontario, the Maritime provinces, and the New England states. By the 1880s his photographers travelled west to the prairies, Banff and the Rockies. His influence and reputation stretched from coast to coast. His family business continued until 1935, but their heyday was firmly rooted in the nineteenth century which is the focus of both the exhibition at the McCord Museum in Montreal, 2016–17, and of this publication.

One hundred and fifty black and white photographs were selected for the exhibition and this publication from over 200,000 glass negatives and 450,000 prints in the vast Notman photographic archive collection acquired in 1956 by the McCord Museum, McGill University. They make a fitting tribute to mark the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation and the 375th anniversary of the founding of Montreal. Both are an opportunity to reintroduce Notman to the public and examine his remarkable contribution to the history of Canadian photography.

The ground work for this publication was laid by former Notman curator Stanley Triggs, who from the 1960s through the early 1990s wrote several important tomes. This extraordinarily informative book is organised into seven chapters. Seven contributors (six female, one male) add further insight into Notman’s rich cultural legacy. All have worked extensively on the Notman collection, and their essays are clearly and concisely written. The book opens with a useful biographical chronology of Notman and his family. Hélène Samson, curator of the Notman Photographic Archives since 2006, pens the first two chapters. In the first she gives an overview to the exhibition and publication. Her second chapter begins with Notman’s definition of photography as an art equal to painting and his lifelong attempts to elevate it and himself to a higher professional status. The other chapters examine individual, family, and group portraiture – his bread and butter; innovations into photomechanical techniques for illustrated publications and his business contacts with publishers; his invention of the halftone in 1869; the decipherment of the complicated numbering system he used; and a history of the collections acquisition by McGill. In addition to the seven essays there are three sections of photographs: views of Montreal, portraits, and landscape scenes of Canada.

What emerges from the essays is a portrait of a ‘Renaissance’ man who was an astute businessman, marketing genius, and photographic innovator – certainly one of the foremost of his generation. His photographs appeared everywhere. The book is a valuable addition to the literature on Notman and to photography enthusiasts.