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


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

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

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

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

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

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.
Installation Shots

Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840–1970) (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre

Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840–1970) (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre

Sharing the Frame: Photographic Objects from the Lorne Shields Historical Photograph Collection (1840–1970) (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre