Arthur Beales (1871-1955) was the first official photographer for the Toronto Harbour Commission, first hired in 1914, and only retiring in 1951.[1][2][3] His job was physically challenging, as he climbed cranes and towers, carrying the heavy and inconvenient cameras of the time.
Arthur Beales | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1871 |
| Died | 1955 (aged 83–84) |
| Occupation | photographer |
| Known for | took over 17,000 historic photos for his employer, the Toronto Harbour Commission |
When his car was hit by a train, in 1920, Beales was blinded in one eye, and had to use clever techniques to compensate for his loss of depth perception.[1] Kevin Plummer, writing in the Torontoist, quotes an official biography that said Beales felt the facial scarring left from his accident had closed off the option of working as a portrait photographer.
References
edit- ^ a b Kevin Plummer (2011-10-08). "Historicist: On the Waterfront". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^ Sarah Bassnett (2016). Picturing Toronto: Photography and the Making of a Modern City. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 9780773546714. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
- ^
Michael Moir (Summer 1989). "Toronto's Waterfront at War, 191 4-1 91". Archivaria. pp. 136, 137, 140. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
Examples of Beales' work and details about his life and career can be found in Lilly Koltun, ed., Private Realms of Light: Amateur Photography in Canada, 1839-1940, (Markham, 1984). According to information compiled by Peter Robertson during the preparation of this book, landscape photographs taken by Beales finished first in competitions held by the Toronto Industrial Exhibition as early as 1895. Selections of his work for the Toronto Harbour Commission also form the basis for a regular column in its magazine, Port of Toronto News, as well as for its recent publication, Toronto Harbour: The Passing Years (Toronto, 1985)
External links
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Media related to Images from Arthur Beales at Wikimedia Commons- Ralph Greenhill; Andrew Birrell (1979). Canadian Photography: 1839-1920. Coach House Press.
- Arthur Beales; Arthur S. Goss; Alfred J. Pearson. Official photographers : the work of Arthur Beales, Arthur S. Goss, Alfred J. Pearson.
