Robert Colasanto Photographic Services

~ click here to view a 6MB movie about this restoration project ~

Robert Colasanto Photographic Services was hired to restore and print thirty poster-sized images taken by Rod LeMay for the Powell River Historical Museum and Archives for an exhibition funded by a grant from Pride In Our Communities: BC 2008 Local Museums Program, through the BC 150 Program.

Restoring these images from slides, negatives, and prints entailed fixing torn edges, mildew, folds and tears, as well as improving contrast and tonality, all the while keeping the integrity of the photograph intact. In most cases, parts of the image that were immediately next to the defect were able to be sampled. The scans allow the images to be reproduced at large sizes—and the larger the print, the finer the detail that will be visible, so there was a lot of repair involved. At one point, cleaning up a pair of trousers, I realized it was actually pulp—so I had to start over and leave the white spots intact. In “Orchestra”, what appears to be a scratch at first glance is actually a wrapper of some sort on the floor.

The Silver Gelatin Dry Plate process was used for most of these photos. Mr. LeMay could pour the emulsion on a glass plate, then take it with him once it dried; after the exposure, he’d have a reasonable amount of time to develop it, so he wouldn’t have needed a portable darkroom.

The cellulose nitrate negatives, however, were quite flammable and considered very dangerous. They may have been preferable at the time because they were lighter and more flexible (the glass plates were very fragile) but unfortunately they can’t help but decompose. It's a testament to the dedication of the Powell River Historical Museum and Archives staff that Mr. LeMay's nitrates still exist.

There is an undeniable presence of self-expression contained in Rod LeMay’s documentation of Powell River. This was the balancing act with which even the greatest photographers of the day struggled: is it an art form, or is it a tool to record a moment in time?

In 1916, Alvin Coburn said, “A photograph is as common as a box of matches.” He went on to say that photography as an art form needed more sincerity and respect. Amateurs and professionals alike were still unsure of photography’s place as an art form.

Arthur Stieglitz changed that. Stieglitz was a champion of Pictorialism, presenting subjects in their natural state while still capturing his personal vision. Meanwhile, Lewis W. Hine and Eugene Atget were taking documentary photographs that rose above being simply pictorial accounts of the time.

Rod LeMay had a strong sense of composition. His subjects had to pose for several moments, evident in the shots when someone didn’t hold still. (In the “Pipe” photo, PH1003, one of the men has three arms. In the “Baseball Team” photo, PH4555, a ghost can be seen walking up the hill in the background.) This suggests that he took time to organize his subjects, even when their work ethic made them unwilling participants. Some groups are perfectly symmetrical (“Baseball”, “Pipe”, “Union”) while others are perfectly balanced off centre (“Fir Family”, “Picnic”, “Scouts”, “Surfboarding”.)

There is a strong humanistic quality in each of these photos. “Sliammon” conveys a sense of resiliency in the midst of destruction. “Generator Room” shows confident men with their machines. “Picnic” has a sense of humour.

We don’t know if Mr. LeMay was following what was happening in photography, but his photographs certainly speak for themselves. Visit the museum's website to view all thirty images.

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Robert Colasanto Photographic Services

robert@robertcolasanto.com · 604.483.4409