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Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840-1970)

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival Launch: April 28, 2023, 7–10 pm
Exhibition on view: April 29–June 10, 2023
Student Gallery

Sharing the Frame presents late 19th and early 20th century vernacular objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection, at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Libraries. Donated in 2009, the collection comprises over 2,300 photographic objects, including snapshots, albums, cartes-de-visite, and lantern slides, depicting travel views, recreational and educational scenes, and family portraits. Together, these objects reveal a Western colonial desire for visual consumption in domestic, public, and commercial settings.

Organised by the 2022–2023 second-year graduate students from Toronto Metropolitan University’s graduate Film & Photography Preservation and Collections Management program.

Related Events

Opening Reception & Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival Launch
Friday, April 28, 2023 | 7–10 pm

All events take place at The Image Centre (33 Gould Street, Toronto) unless otherwise noted. 

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A black and white photograph shows a young boy with blonde hair and wearing a sleeveless top standing close to the camera lens and pictured out of focus. Behind him is a nondescript building, in focus.
Fig. 1

Unidentified photographer, [Portrait of boy], 1929, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries

A group of men at a party pose for a photograph around a card table.
Fig. 2

Unidentified photographer, [Men at a party], ca. 1947, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries

A strip of four photobooth portraits of a man.
Fig. 3

Unidentified photographer, [Alfred Thorburn Orr], ca. 1950, gelatin silver print (photobooth). Courtesy of Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries

A woman and boy in a boat on a sunny day.
Fig. 4

Unidentified photographer, [Gert and Fred], after 1930, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries

A man and woman, each holding a hat, kiss, with a view of a beach and trees in the background.
Fig. 5

Unidentified photographer, [Portrait of a man and woman embracing], ca. 1930, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries

Exhibition Catalogue

The cover of Sharing the Frame publication
Fig.

Sharing the Frame (book cover) 

In 2022–2023, the students of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management (F+PPCM) graduate program revisited the Lorne Shields Collection. This publication accompanies The Image Centre’s exhibition Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840–1970), on view from April 29–June 10, 2023.

Download PDF 

Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840-1970)

Logo for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival