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Photographic Albums
Martha Langford, PhD.
The Album as Collection
An album as collection is a kind of paper museum: groups of objects that somehow relate to each other under a general category or theme. The first albums, as we have seen, were collections of photographic specimens and unusual examples of pictures continue to crop up in albums – the compilers love photography, after all! But most of them love photography for what it can do: capture images of the real world for the purposes of contemplation, comparison, and a sense of connection to the depicted figures or scenes. In albums designed for cartes-de-visite, this sense of connection follows the socio-political order of the day. The album opens with portraits of the most important figures – for a British subject, the British royal family – then proceeds in descending order through the European aristocracy, political and cultural giants, before the compiler's family, friends, and acquaintances come on the scene. Sometimes they never appear as themselves at all, but play-act in their cartes-de-visite. In the Ogilvie Album (MP-1981.32.1-100), a procession of royals ends with a carnival of costumed characters from all around the world. The compiler, W.W. Ogilvie, is among these figures, as are many of his Montreal friends, photographed by Notman. But familiarity is not the theme of this album. In 1862, Ogilvie set out to create a world encyclopedia of famous individuals and exotic types. Photographic studios from all parts of the colonialized world furnished him with colourful examples.
The scrapbook approach also continues through this period as exemplified by the Actress Album compiled in Montreal by Hugh Wylie Becket (MP-1978.189.1-129) after 1872. Becket is plainly a fan: his album is dominated by celebrities, mainly actresses, whose portraits are presented on hand-decorated pages. The names of these intriguing women, or their most famous roles, are inscribed in whimsical vignettes, heraldic banners, and laurel leaves, and there are also a few dates, the latest 1876. A few royals are also featured, Queen Victoria, of course, but also the romantic figures Marie Antoinette, Mary Queen of Scots, and Catherine de Medici whose painted portraits have been copied photographically. This album demonstrates the collector's pursuit of a particular subject – fascinating women – and the nineteenth-century photographic studio's supply of art reproductions to satisfy this market. Another interesting feature of the Becket album is its combination of themes. Almost as an afterthought, three sports clubs are represented: the Montreal Gymnastic Club (including one Robt. A. Becket), The Montreal Baseball Club, and the Toronto Lacrosse Club, all taken in 1872, the same year that the album was dedicated. Is this where the collection started? If so, the organization of photographs and their treatment in the album reflects the compiler's change of direction, from athletics to actresses.
Albums as collections are full of such biographical insights, which also inform our knowledge of the culture. The Emily Ross Album (MP-1982.107.1-47), begun in 1869, is a sketchbook for decorative framing motifs and photographic collages, some pregnant with narrative. The decoration was sketched in pencil and painted with watercolour and ink; the photographs have been trimmed to fit the artists's design. Motifs are varied, from simple frames in geometric patterns to leafy, floral arbours with birds. Such creative ideas as medallions adorned with portraits or an extended fan with five photographic blades are topped by the simple device of a carte-de-visite tumbling out of an envelope. The "postmarks" on the envelope connect Kingston and Montreal – many possible plot lines spring to mind. There are 45 photographs in the album: portraits, architecture studies, and photographic reproductions of engravings. Most of the photographs can be traced to the Notman studio. The compiler's collection of copied engravings includes one of John Everett Millais's The Black Brunswicker (1860), a love scene between a woman and a departing soldier (Notman I-28174.1). Another Montreal photographer, Alexander Henderson, is represented in the album with a view of Lake La Blanche (circa 1866). Emily Ross's paper museum exhibits her own work amidst the sources of her inspiration.
Another album (The Green Album MP-0000.10), circa 1940, is the collection of a Canadian history buff. Prints purchased from Notman, Henderson, Barnes (Wilfrid Molson Barnes, active 1900-1940?) are combined with snapshots, maps, photographic copies of paintings and drawings, and a pressed botanical specimen. Quebec's colonial and military history is the overarching theme, with special emphasis on the Seven Years War and the War of 1812. The personal photographs document the traces of these histories on the landscape with strict objectivity, while the album as a whole testifies to a collector's passion.
