Minna Keene – carbon print c1910 – from NGC archive
Toronto. Our resident photo historian, George Dunbar, dropped me a note the other day after he browsed the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) website. George writes, “The Photography and bio of Minna Keene are found on this National Gallery of Canada web site: https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/your-collection/across-the-globe-the-life-and-career-of-minna-keene.
“Minna Keene (1861-1943), born in Germany, moved to England where she met her husband and began photography. They moved to South Africa, and eventually to Canada in 1913.”
The PHSC have a particular interest in both Ms Keene and her daughter, Violet. In the January 1990 edition of Photographic Canadiana (15-4), the cover photograph of George Bernard Shaw was take by Violet Keene. Included is an article on Minna by Andrew Rodger along with a brief footnote. The second article by our then editor, the late Everett Roseborough, covers his recollections and a chronology of daughter Violet.
The article above on the NGC website was written by Mina Markovic in early 2022. Mina is currently our Social Media co-ordinator. Andrew Rodger spoke to the society back in November, 2001 (see link above). A small world.
