Facets of Fame

During my meeting with Ellen Scheinberg of the Ontario Jewish Archives this week, she suggested that I may be interested in seeing the Facets of Fame: Portraits of Toronto Photographer Al Gilbert photography exhibit which is currently on display at The Market Gallery in the St. Lawrence Market on Lower Jarvis Street, Toronto. Although the exhibit runs until September 11th, 2010, Ellen suggested that I visit it as soon as possible as a way to expose myself to one of the OJA’s most recent projects and to see first-hand one of the various ways that the archive is seeking to engage the public in unexpected public spaces.

Although what I know about the art of photography could barely fill a thimble, I’ve always admired the work of those who have the ability to look at people, places and things and capture them on film in unique and bold ways. Since my mother also had the day off work, I suggested that she come with me and off we went to see the work of one of the country’s most respected portrait photographers.

The exhibit begins – quite suitably, I think – with the work of Al Gilbert’s father, Nathan, the man who first exposed Al to the world of photograph and taught him the basics of the trade in their family’s photography studio during the 1920s and 1930s. Nathan’s work included dozens of clever family photographs of bar mitzvahs, birthdays, vacations, holidays and everyday life that all seemed just a little bit cheeky.

My favourite photo from this section of the exhibit would have to be the photo in which Nathan layered a photo of himself over a photo of President John F. Kennedy to make it appear as though the two men were having a discussion in the Oval Office. In the days of Adobe Photoshop, this might not seem like a big deal, but when you think about all the work that had to go into creating this absolutely seamless image in the 1920s, the outcome is astounding.

The majority of the exhibit, however, featured more than 75 portraits taken by Al Gilbert over the course of his career and was broken down into sections which included luminaries from Toronto’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities (e.g. Michael Lee-Chin, Mel Lastman, Ed Mirvish, etc.), as well as figures of national and international importance (e.g. Pope John Paul II, Frank Sinatra, Prime Minister Diefenbaker and others). And, under each photograph, the OJA has mounted not only a description of the accomplishments of the person in the photo, but also the techniques and equipment which Mr. Gilbert used to achieve the final product, a two-pronged tactic which, in my opinion, gives the exhibit more depth and appeal to a wider audience than if they had only included one type of detail or the other.

Although a number of photos made me stop and take an extra moment to fully admire them, there was a small handful that simply gripped me by the throat and demanded my attention as true works of art. For example, the black and white photo of jazz legend Oscar Peterson, which was used for the brochure of the exhibit’s launch event was breathtaking. The lighting and composition were simple enough, even classic, but there was something about the way that Gilbert captured every crack in the man’s skin and the light in his eyes that moved me. Another favourite of mine was the one of Ed Mirvish taken in one of his theatres. Mirvish was wearing this really bold striped suit and a more subtly stripped tie in yellows and black and he contrasted amazingly with the pure red of the rest of the frame (the seats, walls and carpets were all the same shade of red, although patterned differently). It was definitely more playful than the Peterson image, but no less striking.

A few of the images (like that of Frank Sinatra and the Pope), I could have done without but I think that was because the rest of Gilbert’s photos were so amazing that I was absurdly let down when they were merely good. Also, I wasn’t always of fan of the photos in which he layered a dignitary overtop of a print of a place which had meaning to them (e.g. combining a photo of Mel Lastman with one of Mel Lastman Square at night or the bishop and his church), but I’m sure that says more about my personal aesthetic than Gilbert’s abilities as a photographer.

The exhibit is free and easy to get to. I highly recommend that anyone living in or visiting Toronto this summer drop by and enjoy the photographs before they disappear back into the archival holdings at the OJA.

Public History is Alive and Well in the Archives

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that I’ve always been enamored with museums. As a child my parents made sure to expose both my brother and I to as many museums as possible. And, whether these were traditional or living heritage, large or small, they were a staple of family vacations, day trips and parentally-supported school outings. Occasionally, my parents even managed to schedule museum visits for after games when we’d travel for soccer tournaments (they were sneaky like that). Most of the time, I loved wandering from room to room looking at artifacts and dioramas. And when I didn’t? Well, I still learned something. More importantly, I learned to appreciate the important role that museums play in caring for the history, heritage, culture and values of a place and/or a people.

Even with all that interest in museums, I had never given much thought to archives and the role that they play within a community. In fact, I’m almost ashamed to admit that the first time I ever stepped foot into an archive I was already in my fourth year of university. I certainly never envisioned myself – a scant 8 months since starting the Public History program at UWO – working in one archive and volunteering at another. But, this summer I’m doing both.

The main portion of my internship this summer will take place at the Sunnnybrook Archives (SBA) in Toronto where I’ll be an archives assistant to a graduate of UWO’s Public History program, Phil Gold.

The Sunnybrook Archives exists primarily to collect, organize, describe, make available and preserve records materials of historical, legal, and administrative value to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. As the Archives Assistant, I’ll be working in all areas of the archives, including working first-hand with print and graphic records, and with medical artifacts and other college memorabilia. My primary duty will be to assist Phil with the arrangement and description of the collection (specifically the archive’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs Fonds) according to RAD standards in preparation for the submission of a fonds level description to ARCHAEION. It’ll probably be a tedious and exacting process, but one that I’ll learn a great deal about archival practices from.

Since my contract with Sunnybrook Archives is only part time, I’ll be making up the remaining hours of my internship by volunteering at the Ontario Jewish Archives working on a number of archival and public history projects. To begin with, I’ll be helping organize/work “front of house” activities at the archive’s Doors Open Toronto site this weekend. From there I’ll move onto doing an inventory and some digitization of the archival holdings belonging to R.H. McGregor Elementary School in Toronto in preparation for a more extensive school history section on their webpage and a display for the school’s entryway. I’ll also have a hand in a few smaller projects, including helping to organize the OJA’s summer tours, helping update one of the Holocaust Education Centre’s displays and working on a number of item level RAD-compliant descriptions and digitization of some of the archive’s photographic records.

There are two other major projects that I’ll be working on at the OJA this summer and I’m very excited to have the opportunity to have a hand in both of them. The first is a podcast to accompany the OJA’s Facets of Fame: Portraits by Toronto Photographer Al Gilbert display at the Market Gallery in the St. Lawrence Market (see Facets of Fame blog post). I’ll be responsible for setting up interviews with some of the artist’s subjects for inclusion in the podcast, scanning images from the exhibit and helping to create a script for the podcast (Look Ma, I’m writing for the public!). The second major project that I’ll be working on is the continuation of the OJA’s huge oral history project. The project aims to record the stories of WWII veterans and I’ll be responsible for scheduling interviews, conducting pre-interviews and accessioning the videos once they have been recorded.

The summer’s barely begun and already I’m feeling very lucky to have the opportunity to work with the Director of the Ontario Jewish Archives, Ellen Scheinberg, who has been kind enough to include me in so many of the institution’s public history projects. The wide variety of projects she has schedule for me to help on will surely broaden my exposure and practical hands-on experience with public history in the “real world.”