Name/Title
Portrait of Harold Mortimer-Lamb, RPS (1872-1970)Entry/Object ID
2015.04.13Description
Photograph
Photographic reproduction (2015) from the undated b/w photograph by Harry Upperton Knight.
This black and white Pictorial-style portrait is of English-born, Harold Mortimer-Lamb who was, in the early 20th century, the leading artistic photographer in Canada, a proponent of Pictorial photography. He was also a successful mining engineer, journalist and artist perhaps best known for championing the Canadian Modernist Group of Seven in the 1920s. This image of a pensive Mortimer-Lamb, a 3/4 head and shoulders view. He is wearing a dark suit, glasses and is partially leaning on his left hand.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
Reproduction, black and white photo on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
For a fuller biography of Mortimer-Lamb, see 2015.04.01 Boy with Lace Collar
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Pictorialism was an international style and the predominant aesthetic movement in photography during the later 19th and early 20th century, and beyond into the 1940s in some areas. It began in response to the advent of the amateur Kodak camera in 1888 and claims that a photograph was easily taken, simply a record of reality, and it later transformed into a movement to advance the status and principals of photography as a true art form. Pictorialists believed that photography should be understood as a means of personal expression and creativity equal to other fine arts like painting and printmaking.
Pictorialism had its roots in England with the establishment in 1892 of the Linked Ring Brotherhood by Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901), George Davison (1854-1930) and Henry Van Der Weyde (1838-1924). This invitation-only British pictorialist group seceded from the Royal Photographic Society. And similar groups were formed in Paris, Berlin, Hamburg and Brussels. In 1902 Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) formed the American Pictorialist photographers group, the Photo Secession movement, with Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966), Frederick Holland Day (1864-1933), Frank Eugene (1865-1936), Gertrude Käsebier (1852-1934), Edward Steichen (1879-1973) and Clarence White (1871-1925). In 1916 Coburn, Käsebier, White and others formed an organization called the Pictorial Photographers of America (PPA) to continue promotion of the pictorial style. A year later Stieglitz formally dissolved the defunct Photo Secession group.
Pictorial photographers were dedicated to conveying an emotion, thought or sentiment through their careful choice of subject matter, composition, tonal balance and technique. There is no standard definition of 'pictorialism', but overall it refers to a style in which the photographer has "created" rather than just accurately "recorded" an image. Typically, such photos have a soft focus, and may be printed in colours such as warm brown or deeper blue, and may have visible surface treatments that were created in the darkroom.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Harry Upperton Knight (1873-1973)Role
PhotographerArtist
Royal B.C. Museum and ArchivesRole
PrintmakerDate made
2015Time Period
20th Century, 21st CenturyNotes
PHOTOGRAPHER BIOGRAPHY
Born in Tillington, Sussex, England, Harry Upperton Knight was a successful Canadian photographer out of Victoria, B.C. specializing in portraits and landscapes. In particular he was noted for his artistic "camera sketches" that reflected his interest in the Pictorial photography movement. This international movement, that began in the 1890s and remained popular until the 1920s, was intended to advance the status of photography as a true art form.
Knight started his career by apprenticing to another photographer and then opened his own studio in Cranleigh, England. In 1910 Knight immigrated to Canada, first selling real estate in Vancouver and Duncan, B.C., and in 1917, he moved to Victoria. Following a short period working in the Wilfred Gibson studios, Knight opened his own commercial studio at 707 ½ (later 715) Fort Street in 1918.
Until his retirement in 1965, Knight continued to specialize in portrait photography, copy and his artistic work, mostly landscapes, which emphasized his use of a soft focus lens. He photographed the City of Victoria, as well as Vancouver Island, its people, the streets, the houses and the changing landscape, such as the development of Butchart Gardens. He also traveled to Vancouver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Mexico. Knight died at the age of 100. The City of Victoria Archives acquired his photographs in 1972.Dimensions
Dimension Description
SupportHeight
24.1 cmWidth
19 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
GiftDate
2015Notes
Image PH 983.1.255 courtesy of Royal B.C. Museum and Archives.Relationships
Related Entries
Notes
By Harry Upperton Knight:
2014.08.04 A Turn in the Road
2014.08.05 Broom and Arbutus
2015.04.13 Portrait of Harold Mortimer-Lamb (reproduction photo after photograph by Knight)
