Principal Bill Bell and his teachers at KES on October 12, 1928. Taken by Denton Photo, Kitchener, Ontario.
Toronto. Selfies are common today. You can even get a stick so you can take them. So lets call group photos groupies. This subject came to mind Monday when the Globe ran an article in “Life and Arts” called “Say ‘Cheesy'”. The author’s husband used a regular 35mm camera for his group photo.
Years ago a panorama camera would have been an option as such cameras were a popular means of photographing large groups of people or wide vistas.
As journal and newsletter editor, Bob Lansdale has reported on a number of historical panoramas over the years. In fact, Bob unearthed the unmarked grave of the pioneer panoramic camera inventor, Canadian born William James Johnston, here in Toronto. Johnston was the original patent holder bringing the Cirkut camera to market in the States but he went bankrupt and came back to Toronto to found the Panoramic Camera Company of Canada. My thanks to Bob Lansdale who did extensive research on Johnston.
Lorne Shields has also shown a number of panoramic photographs at the annual Show and Tell meeting held each December. I chose to use the centre third of this 1928 panorama of all students and teachers at King Edward School (built as the Burton Ave. School) in Allandale (Barrie). This picture of the school’s student body and staff was recorded by Denton Photo of Kitchener, Ontario with what was likely a Cirkut camera.
