Category Archives: Photography

Library and Archives Canada releases eighth podcast episode

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the release of its latest podcast episode: Canada’s Photographic Memory.

In this episode, we explore the evolution of photography using Library and Archives Canada’s extensive photographic collection as our guide. Archivist Jill Delaney takes us through the collection and brings to light some of the incredible stories surrounding these iconic images.

Subscribe to podcast episodes using RSS or iTunes, or just tune in at: Podcast – Discover Library and Archives Canada: Your History, Your Documentary Heritage.

For more information, please contact us at podcasts@bac-lac.gc.ca.

Yesterday Once More: Canada’s Music Industry in Portraits

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Do you have a favourite popular musician or rock group from the last three or four decades of the 20th century? There’s a good chance you’ll be able to find their photographs documented in the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Portrait Portal.

The Portal contains photographs taken between 1963 and 2000, selected from LAC’s RPM fonds, an archive that includes thousands of Canada’s and the world’s most popular artists and bands. It also features actors, music and entertainment executives, broadcasters, politicians and sports figures rubbing shoulders with music industry greats. These portraits have been digitized and added to the Portrait Portal as part of LAC’s ongoing digitization initiatives.

What is the significance of the RPM archive to the Canadian music industry?

Founded in Toronto in 1964, RPM was a Canadian weekly trade publication that focused on the Canadian music recording and radio industries. In 1964 it established the RPM Gold Leaf Awards (also referred to as the Maple Leaf Awards), which would soon evolve into the JUNO Awards. RPM was among the parties that lobbied for Canadian content regulations in the broadcast media, and it inaugurated the RPM MAPL logo (with MAPL standing for music, artists, production, lyrics) that has been widely used to identify the Canadian content of commercial sound recordings. The periodical ceased publication in 2000.

According to Cheryl Gillard, a Library and Archives Canada music specialist, the collection of RPM photographs, now available online through the Portrait Portal, “allows anyone, anywhere to take a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the music industry. Also, for the first time, the Portal’s collection of RPM photos allows less high-profile but historically important Canadian music professionals to be documented and honoured.” This collection showcases Canadian popular culture and reflects the interconnection between the music industries in Canada and the United States.

You can search for photographs of popular musicians in the LAC Portrait Portal simply by entering the name of your favourite band or musician into the keyword search field.

For more information about Canada’s music industry, check out LAC’s RPM database, which contains the digitized versions of the music charts in RPM Weekly from 1964 to 2000. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) website is also a great place to search for a list of past JUNO award recipients—and more!

Library and Archives Canada Announces the Opening of Two Exhibitions

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Library and Archives Canada continues to display the richness and diversity of its collections with the opening of two exhibitions.

In Saskatchewan, the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon is hosting the I Know You by Heart: Portrait Miniatures exhibition until June 2, 2013. The exhibition highlights the intimate, personal nature of portrait miniatures, and the reasons that such images are commissioned and created. Find out more about the conservation of these portraits on Library and Archives Canada’s YouTube video.

In Quebec, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau is presenting the exhibition Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing Canadians until October 14, 2013. Discover portraits of Canadians who have left—and are still leaving—their mark on our country and our culture. Tune in to Library and Archives Canada’s podcast for an overview of the featured works and the stories behind them.

By presenting exhibitions such as these, Library and Archives Canada is able to make original works of documentary heritage accessible in galleries, museums and other community venues to Canadians across the country.

Keep following this blog to stay informed about upcoming events.

The Receiver General Buy Button (RGBB): What is it and how does it work?

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) clients can use their credit or debit cards to purchase digital copies of textual material* through the Government of Canada’s Receiver General Buy Button (RGBB). The RGBB is a safe and secure service that provides convenient, reliable and secure payment services to clients and businesses during their online dealings with the federal government.

The RGBB is much safer than other methods of payment such as mailing or faxing a credit card number, or even providing it over the phone, as your personal information is protected throughout the entire payment process. When using the RGBB, your credit card number is immediately encrypted, then placed in secure transaction storage and no longer retrievable in an unencrypted format.

When you order copies and reproductions from LAC, a link to the RGBB will be sent to the email address you have provided. The link will be sent to you after LAC has completed the processing of your order. You may then pay the Receiver General by credit or debit card.

The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) and the Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) have studied the safety and security aspects of the RGBB. They published their research in a report entitled “Receiver General Buy Button Privacy Impact Assessment”, which concludes that privacy, safety and security concerns are low since the RGBB appropriately addresses any such concerns.

* Please note that clients who purchase photographic prints, videos, sound recordings or microfilm reels will continue to be contacted by our third-party suppliers for payment. LAC price lists and service standards are all available online.

How to find photographs that are not yet available online – part two

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Our previous article “How to find photographs that are not yet available online—part one” explained the best-case scenario for finding photographs that are not yet available online. But what happens when things don’t go that smoothly?

What if I find items that are close but not what I want?

If there are items in your search results that aren’t quite what you’re looking for, don’t despair. It’s quite possible that we have what you want, but that it hasn’t been described yet. The items that have already been described offer you a useful clue as to where those non-described items might be.

First, note the fonds, collection, or accession where each item is from and look at the field labelled “extent.” How many other photographs make up that collection? Perhaps there are more images relating to your topic.

Does the item have:

– an item number?
– a particular photographer?
– certain keywords?

Use variations of those keywords, item number and photographer’s name to do other online searches in Archives Search. If those don’t yield any results, try the finding aid related to each item, either online or on paper. See “How to find photographs that are not yet available online—part one” for tips on using the finding aid.

What if the finding aid is not online or the finding aid is only available in paper?

If you find a fonds, collection, or accession that seems relevant to your research but that doesn’t have an electronic finding aid, look to see if it has a paper one. If it does, you can visit us at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa, to have a closer look at it. If there is no reference to a paper finding aid, then you have to search through the boxes from that collection. If you cannot come to Ottawa, you can contact our reference staff for guidance, or you may wish to hire a freelance researcher.

With more than 25 million images, chances are we have your “perfect shot.” You just have to find it!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Toys and Games in Canada

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Photograph of a girl sitting on a mattress, holding a doll.

Girl with doll, Piper family. Source

The joyful holiday season is the perfect time to introduce you to the Library and Archives Canada collection of photographs related to games and toys.

Although toys and games have existed since the dawn of time, it was only in the 19th century that the ‟toy” really came into its own in Canada. It was also
during the Victorian era that toys and diversion were deemed beneficial to children, thereby kick-starting the mass production of playthings. At first,
toys mainly came from England, Germany and the United States, but between 1860 and 1915, some 20 Canadian companies began to manufacture them as well. They
were made of wood and generally mimicked miniature furniture, cars or horses.

The First World War slowed toy production in Europe, giving the Canadian toy industry the opportunity to flourish. New toys were produced, particularly
battleships and construction sets. This is also when manufacturers started using a wider variety of materials, which resulted in copper, tin, iron, lead,
and rubber toys. Plush dolls and animals, small lead soldiers, bugles and trumpets, rubber balls, hockey pucks and even humming tops could also be found.

In the 1940s, plastic was introduced in toy manufacturing; it was used to make rattles, beach toys, tractors, trucks and construction sets, as well as an
array of tools. In subsequent years, large multinational companies emerged and completely diversified the toy-making industry.

Various outdoor games, such as croquet and lawn bowling have become popular. Children also enjoy games of strength, string, and chance, which are featured
in our new Flickr album.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Library and Archives Canada’s Travelling Exhibitions

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is on the road! With four travelling exhibitions on display in different venues across Canada, including one in the
National Capital Region, LAC is showcasing the richness and diversity of its collections. This is an excellent example of LAC’s commitment to making the
country’s heritage and history accessible to all Canadians—regardless of where they live.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, in British Columbia, is hosting the exhibition Beyond Likeness: Contemporary Works from Library and Archives Canada until January 6, 2013. Through the works of 23 contemporary artists, the exhibition explores the evolving concept of portraiture from more traditional representations of likeness to works that challenge the conventions of the genre.

The New Brunswick Museum in Saint John is presenting the exhibition I Know You by Heart: Portrait Miniatures until December 31, 2012. Showcasing 35 recently restored portraits, the exhibition highlights the intimate, personal nature of portrait miniatures, and the reasons that such images are commissioned, created and carried. In March 2013, the exhibition will make its way to the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon.
Find out more about the conservation of these portraits in LAC’s YouTube video.

The McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario, is showcasing LAC’s most recent exhibition Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing Canadians until January 20, 2013.Double Take presents 50 Canadians who have left—and are leaving—their mark on our country and our culture. Tune in to LAC’s podcast for an overview of the featured works and the stories behind them.

Finally, the exhibition Faces of 1812 is on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa until January 6, 2013. A commemorative exhibition, Faces of 1812 presents some of the men and women who experienced the War of 1812. LAC’s curatorial YouTube video and Faces of 1812 podcast will introduce you to the selected
works that document this significant historical event.

Keep following this blog to find out where these exhibitions will travel next. It could be your hometown!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

The Canadian Coast Guard celebrates its 50th anniversary- Part I

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Black and white photograph of ship cutting a path for icebound vessel.

The CGS Stanley cutting a path for icebound vessels out of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Source

Did you know that the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)—which celebrates its 50th anniversary this  year—is heir to a long tradition originating in Canada’s East Coast? It is there that the first Canadian lighthouses and lifeboats were built during the
18th century.

Created in 1962 by the Honourable Leon Balcer, the then Minister of Transport, the CCG’s mission is to ensure safe and accessible waterways for Canadians. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) owns many archival records that document the activities of the CCG since its creation. Today, we invite you to discover some of these holdings, including photographs as well as government and political records.

Browse a few examples of digitized documents in the Archives Search Results page .

PHOTOGRAPHS

GOVERNMENT RECORDS

The Government fonds include textual records, technical drawings and boat plans.

POLITICAL RECORDS

LAC holds the archival fonds of former ministers of Transport, which contain records of the CCG. Here are two examples:

Please remember that not all of our material is available online. To learn more, consult our article How to Consult Material that Is Not Yet Available Online.

To view images, please visit our Flickr set.

Stay tuned for our next blog to discover more Canadian Coast Guard history, including caricatures, audiovisual records and publications.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – Photographs

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June 5, 2012, marked the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. To celebrate this exceptional event, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) presents an outline of the types of photographs held in its collection about Queen Elizabeth II.Since the 1950s, The Queen has made more than 20 visits to Canada! Our collection contains numerous photos, movies, private and government documents, stamps and even some cartoons of Her Majesty, which were used to convey a particular message. Ready for an overview of the photographs?

Colour portrait of Queen Elizabeth II


Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Vladimir Tiara, the Queen Victoria Jubilee Necklace, the blue Garter Riband, Badge and Garter Star and the Royal Family Orders of King George V and King George VI (1959). (e010975985-v8)

Photographs

We have many photographs of Queen Elizabeth II in our collection; several of which are digitized and accessible via Flickr. You can also browse photographs from Collection Search.

Here are some interesting references:

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

How to Find Photographs Online

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Did you know that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) boasts an impressive photographic collection?  Here is just a sampling of what you can discover:

  • Canadian life and culture illustrated in over 25 million photographs
  • A total of 500,000 individually described and searchable photographs
  • Digitized images of 80,000 photographs available online
  • Photo albums arranged by theme on Flickr

Follow these easy steps to get started:

  1. Go to Archives Search.
  2. Enter your keywords in the search box.
  3. From the Type of material drop-down menu, select Photographic material and then Submit. Your search will generate a list of results.
  4. Select the underlined titles to access the full description of a photograph. Descriptive records display images of photographs that have been digitized.

Tips

Tidbit

Our Photography  section offers a vast selection of tools and resources to help you discover the LAC photographic collection.

For more information on recent announcements at LAC, visit “News”.

Summary of comments received in French between July 1, 2014 and September 30, 2014

  • A reader from France is asking if he can copy photographs found on LAC website or its Flickr account for a commemorative exhibit on November 11th. He also mentions that he has done research on 3 Canadian soldiers (Kenneth Douglas Stephenson, Fred Plummer and James Archibald Marshall) who died in 1918 and are all buried in the cemetery of La Sentinelle, a locality of the north of France.