THE COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHS OF WILLIAM NOTMAN / LES PHOTOGRAPHIES COMPOSITES DE WILLIAM NOTMAN.

Montreal: McCord Museum of Canadian History, 1994. 127 pp, 9 3/4" H x 12 1/8" D. Bilingual text (French/English). Profusely illustrated with reproductions of Notman's photographs. "William Notman invited over a hundred people to come and don brightly coloured costumes representing various themes and epochs in order to create a composite photograph. They dressed as Scottish couples in Highland costume, Elizabethan ladies and courtiers, soldiers and sailors, a voyageur, an 'Indian' and a pilgrim father. The occasion was a skating carnival in the Victoria rink staged in honour of Prince Arthur, who was stationed in Montreal as an officer-in-training in 1870. The finished picture consisted of individual photographs of one hundred and fifty figures cut out and pasted on to a painted background. When we look at composite photographs today, it is sometimes with a certain amusement at what we may perceive as a naive idea, combined with a sense of wonder at the magnitude of the project and admiration of the craftsmanship and artistry required to bring it to a successful completion. This book, written by the former Curator of the McCord Museum of Canadian History's Notman Photographic Archives, explores the art and techniques of making composite photographs and reveals their importance to understanding Canadian social history." Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - slight fading on front hinge area.. Soft Cover. Very Good+. Illus. by William Notman.