Oct 6th, 2008
Review : Québec City and its Photographers at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
[Overview of Room 9, back]
The exhibition Québec City and its Photographers, 1850-1908. The Yves Beauregard Collection offers unique pictures of the Old-Capital. Despite some good efforts from the Museum to showcase this collection, it is highly likely that the public will not to hurry at the gates.
This exhibition offers a selection of approximately 400 photographs, ambrotypes, tintypes and other printing processes of light on a support. Today, digital photography makes picture-taking easily and inexpensively available to all. Putting what we see onto a picture has never been easier. From the click of a button of a camera to the click of the mouse manipulating digital files, the (relative) ease of tools at our provision makes us forget the complexity of the technical aspects hidden in our instruments.
Québec City and its Photographers unveils the beginning of this technology, taking Quebec as a benchmark. Most photographs are presented in a showcase, as artifacts of time past. Their cracks, yellowish or brownish appearance, curves are part of their history, and in that sense, they add a sense of memory. Other images are framed, wrapped by a large all-white, creating a vacuum around them. Each frame is hung on a brown wall, so that the the visitor seems to look through a window to the past. This staging is successful.
From a practical point of view, Room 9 is separated into four different themes: Sights of Quebec City, Life in Quebec City, processes and major studios.
[Ellisson & Co., Le Château Haldimand, Québec, between 1860 and 1879, albumin (2006.1071)]
Sights of Quebec City welcomes the visitor upon entry. It is composed mainly of panoramic views and of city monuments. Here, Quebecers will not be surprised to note that their city has been presented for a long time in a picturesque way, from the advent of photography. Since these images have become commonplace, it is not surprising to find in the text presentation a cliché presenting the city as the ‘Gibraltar of America [1]“.
In particular, one must take the time to reflect upon Quebec viewed from the St. Lawrence taken around 1885 by Notman or Quebec seen from Levi taken around 1865 by Smeatons. These documents put the spectator in a bygone era. Better yet, these large-format photographs have lived through the centuries in a remarkable condition, witnesses to the care that their owners have provided.
However, the Museum work surrounding these groups of pictures leaves a bit to be desired. Examples include the text of presentation in the series of historic sites. It invites us to observe the evolution of the same place over time and under the eye of various photographers. A fascinating idea. However, it would help that images taken in the wake of these lines were placed in a coherent manner. Where is the juxtaposition of these photographs? Where is the series of views of Quebec City so that we can monitor the city over time? Rather than make our work much easier, the Museum sends us across the room in search of those pictures.
The texts could also have improved the visit when places that are now missing are illustrated. Thus, the Scene of Finlay Market presents real historical evidence of Quebec trade life when this photograph was taken. Only problem: where was this market located? How is one supposed to know this information? How will one make the connection between time past and today? For the sake of argument, let us indicate that the market was located approximately between Place Royale and the St.Lawrence River [2]. These are small irritants, but they eventually tend to add up.
Life in Quebec City groups portraits and some aspects of daily life. Here, the ranking of portraits according to social rule is mentioned. Also, children’s portraits or images of the celebrations surrounding the 300th anniversary of Quebec City are grouped together. Once again, the presentation texts sometimes cause problems. Thus, in the text next to Ahatsistari, Huron Chief Emeritus, there is an inconsistency reported between the Huron costume and the classical decor by using an exclamation point. However, somewhere not too far away, we are reminded that this type of scene was current in photo studios to suggest a classical architecture, and therefore timelessness. Greater consistency in those two texts would have been appreciated.
[Ellisson & Co., Ahatsistari (André-Napoléon Montpetit, 1840-1898), chef huron honoraire, 1878, albumin (2006.1211)]
Also, the theme Life in Quebec City is scattered all over the room. One could easily believe that all the exhibition is grouped under this term, providing a bit of confusion for the visitor.
One must not miss the section of studio portraits. Thus, we are rightly reminded of details that enrich our experience. For example, the presence of head restraints is reported on several photographs. People whose picture was taken with the same clothes or in the same scene are also placed side by side to reveal an aspect of these photographs in a serial way. Better yet, two photographs of different women but in the same clothes, both standing before the same scenery, can not fail to surprise and delight. This find from researchers exploring the Yves Beauregard collection deserves to be highlighted.
If the images on the walls are worth a look, the scientific interest of the exhibition is located in its center. The heart of the the first part of the room is occupied by processes used by photographers working in Quebec City. In a simple language and with a chronological order, the daguerreotype, the ambrotype, the tintype, dry gelatin, albumin and gelatin silver processes are presented alternatively. With examples from the Collection, visitors can see the evolution of these processes and their use by studios. The journey leading to our digital cameras is enormous.
[A stereoscope]
In the same section, two stereoscopes are accessible. These devices allowed photographers to create the illusion of three-dimensional pictures. It is a real pleasure to be able to use these apparatus. In the same way, the evolution of visit cards is presented. Furthermore, the work of the major studios of Lemire, Livernois and Vallée is displayed. Seeing the Vallée Car on the Dufferin Terrace is an important testimony this photographer who was playing tourist in his city.
Note that in the room, most objects are placed in windows. Chairs are inviting people to sit and observe these witnesses of time past. However, this choice of furniture is doubtful. Most visitors are reluctant to sit down, probably from fear to take the entire area for themselves. In this sense, putting a bench would have been a neat way to break this natural nuisance while achieving the same effect.
Also, it should be noted that the text alongside the photographs is poorly prioritized. Photographer, topic, date: these informations are arranged in a set too compact for easy reading. If the photographer is put forward as an artist - and that choice is obvious - it seems that the topic represented is the information that most visitors would be wishing to read first. A subtle enhancement of the text might have been able to refine this aspect of the exhibition.
Finally, it is pertinent to ask whether a dialogue between images of past and present could have been achieved. In fact, what is the exposure of these witnesses of the past without thinking about time passing? These are beautiful objects, signs of a know-how gone by, but without context, it falls a little flat. We leave this exhibition pleased to have enriched our mind with images, but without any real reflection on the matter. The visitor enters the rooms, looks for familiar landmarks on the images, marvels of the passing time, leaves.
One can wonder about the opportunities offered by this important museum exhibition. It is not certain if Québec City and its Photographers is the best possible exhibit one could have thought of. Why not use photographs to recreate an image of a Quebec gone by, or present celebrations of the 300th anniversary of foundation more proeminently, or focus only on the studios or the processes? If the wealth of the collection makes it difficult to keep the focus on one aspect, the Museum could have made it easier for the visitor to center his interest one one aspect of the Collection.
Overall, Québec City and its Photographers deserves a look. The quality of the photographs exhibited are worth the attention. If the setting leaves something to be desired and a tightening of the theme Life in Quebec City would have been appreciated, this does not spoil the visit.
Nevertheless, the real brakes for accessing this exhibition is its exorbitant price. Thus, your wallet will offload 15 dollars if this post makes you want to go to the Museum. That is the same price you will pay if you go see The Louvre in Quebec City and all Museum exhibitions. When the Louvre has finished its run, and Québec City and its Photographers will be the only temporary exhibit until early December, one has to wonder who will be in the room in November? Indeed, we noticed very few visitors entering in the room to see this single exhibit at the time of our visit. Rather, it was people who were waiting for the Louvre, touring the Museum rooms while wasting some time or explorers of the permanent collections for whom the doors were closed. It is a pity that the Museum did not reduce its entrance fee for visitors of this single exhibit. Attendance will unfortunately suffer.
- USEFUL INFORMATION -
- Québec City and its Photographers, 1850-1908. The Yves Beauregard Collection is presented at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec [Quebec Art Gallery] from September 25h, 2008 to January 4th, 2009. Opening hours and useful informations are available on their site.
- Regular admission fee is 15 dollars. Some group rates are offered.
- The is no audioguide availaible.
- The catalogue is worth the purchase since all the photographs of the exhibit are reproduced.
- The city was nicknamed that way by Charles Dickens in 1842.
- See Noppen, Luc and al. Québec, trois siècles d’architecture. Montréal, Libre expression, 1989 [1979], p. 314-315.
[Esther Trépanier, director of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec]
- This is the first exhibition under the guidance of the new director Esther Trépanier. If the pictures have all been scanned, they are not made available online. We modestly suggest the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco as an example of bringing easily pictures onto the Web without a makover of the Museum’s site.
- This exhibit was made available because Yves Beauregard gave its collection to the museum. This man gave approximately 3500 pictures while the museum had only 1000 ancient photographs in its prior collection.
[...] a cool looking exhibition I came across thanks to Marc Gauthier. The official name I think is Québec City and its Photographers, 1850-1908. The Yves Beauregard [...]