Product Details
Hardcover
McClelland & Stewart
Published 1993
From Publishers Weekly
Largely forgotten today, Notman was a dominant figure of photography in the U.S. and Canada in the 1870s and '80s. His Montreal-based family firm documented a continent's prideful development through photographs of architectural triumphs, universities and the land's ascendant citizens in elaborately staged studio portraits. The authors adequately describe the Glasgow emigrant Notman's business flair and ingenious artistry, but the real excitement is provided by the 173 duotones and 70 halftones. The railroads' westward thrust, Niagara's towering suspension bridge, a Royal Artillery review, a sidewheel steamer breasting the rapids, Quebec farms and Indian villages are all brought to life again. Longfellow, Emerson, Mark Twain, Lillie Langtry, the exiled Jefferson Davis, a young George V, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, scholars, statesmen and tycoons posed for Notman cameras. A striking curiosity to modern eyes are the composite portraits of "Confederate Commanders, 1883" or a "Yale College group" which combine photos of individuals against an illustrated background with surprisingly effective results.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
William Notman (1826-91) was a Victorian-era photographer and consummate businessman. His studio name lasted 60 years in Canada and the United States, until the last of at least 26 Notman studios was sold by his son in 1935. Beginning with the first studio in Montreal in 1856, the business grew along with technical improvements and the railroads' expansion to western Canada. Today Notman is thought of for his unusual and portable studio backdrops and imaginative composite photographs, but the... read more --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. |
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