his exhibition showcases the work of many Government of Ontario photographers and spans much of the twentieth century; from the opening decade to the 1980s. The images included provide fascinating and unique perspectives on our history and offer ample proof of each photographer’s skill and vision. Photographic approaches are intentionally varied, and wide ranges of the province’s ministries and geographic areas are represented. 

An important concern of this exhibition is the highlighting of the movement of these and thousands of other related images into the Archives of Ontario once they are no longer in active use by the government bodies for which they were created. How does the presence or absence of accompanying information (metadata) affect our consideration of these contributions to our history?

Consider This:

If you have family photo albums with pictures like these that encompass more than a generation, flip through them sometime.  You will likely encounter some of the same metadata issues that come into play for institutions like the Archives of Ontario. Ask yourself the following questions about your albums. 

• Do you know who each person is in the photographs?
• Do you know where each picture was taken?
• What were the people featured doing that day?
• What was the occasion?
• Why do some of the albums’ pages have spaces?
• Who took those photographs out?
• Why are those colour photographs from the sixties and seventies such a strange pinky red colour now?
• And, last but not least, who were the photographers?

Click to see a larger image (158K)
Portrait of a family group posed on their
porch, [between 1900 and 1920]
Nell Maciborka fonds
Black and white print
Reference Code: C 163
Archives of Ontario, I0014224

• Photographer Unknown
• A Picture Needs a Thousand Words
  • Martha Baillie
  • Mitchell Kingsley
  • John Lorinc
  • Wendy MacDonald
  • John Macfie
• From Memory to History
• Slideshow of Selected Images
• A Gallery of Images
• Photographer Known

Related Events

The Archives is pleased to present this exhibit in partnership with the John B. Aird Gallery and the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). Visit this exhibit at these other venues during the month of October:

• The John B. Aird Gallery, 2 October to 26 October 2007. Gallery hours: Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm. Gallery location: In the Macdonald Block, 900 Bay Street, Toronto (at Bay and Wellesley).
• The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), 12 October to 26 October 2007, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto.

In addition, the Archives, in partnership with Pleasure Dome and OCAD, is presenting In the Public Interest, two evenings of film screenings that showcase the work of Ontario government filmmakers. Screenings take place 12 and 19 October, 7-9 pm in the OCAD auditorium. Vid Ingelevics, the exhibit curator, and Archives staff will host a discussion on the films.

Meet the Curator - Vid Ingelevics

In addition to writing for Canadian Art, C magazine, Prefix Photo and other arts publications, his recent essay on relationships between art and photography, "The Metropolitan Museum of Edward Milla" was part of an anthology of writing and artists’ pageworks, titled "Image and Inscription."

His curatorial projects have been presented in Canada and Europe and include the recent project, "Damage Done: Rematerializing the Photograph", at Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Toronto (2005). After completing work on “Assignment to Archive: Recognizing Ontario Government Photographers” for the Archives of Ontario Vid has begun a new project with the Archives exploring the photographic documentation of Eaton’s department store windows throughout the 20th century. For more information on Vid’s work please visit Vid's website.

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