The Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-06-29, Page 32a�
Cda's. Centenary has br•
ought to readers of many pub.
Ii atlons a revival of Into&
,11Bic art from the cameras of
Reuben R. Sallows, of God;
erich. Many are characteristic
Tial scenes of 50, GO and even
70 years ago, but the artist
possessed special qualities of
perception and technique. Much
of it, 'notwithstanding present-
day methods, has never been
surpassed. These pictures are
being reproduced now through
government and. dbmmerc'a1
agencies; Mr. Sallows did not
copyright them, so far as known.
A daughter, Mrs. Charles Sai„n.
ders, of Goderich, still has
many of the original prints .-
there are no negatives and
friends have suggested that she
display a selection in some
downtown location.
On Civic Holiday, • 1807, Mr.
Sallows made a discovery snore
important than ,he realized at
the lime, At his death, many
years later, t was said that
his 'work "inspired Canadian
photography.)*
What happened to R. R Sal.
lows that August day was that
he became seized of an idea,
a technique, that was- 4i1ghly
saleable. He entered the almost
neglected, field Of commercial
art. In the next three decades
his phot agraphs of outdoor
isce9nes made herr famous,' As
early as 1916, Printer and Pub.
lisher described him as one
"who has done much to .dem-
onstrate the possibilities of
camera ' art,' and whose work
is in demand all over the
world."
Sir Isaac Newton is said to
I '0W$
era Artist Here
have promulgated the law Of
gravitation after watching an
apple fall. R. R, Sallows' die.
covert' was equally fortuitous.
Indeed, his initial study of pho.
tography was an accident; A
native of Colborne township, he
,,struck Goderich in search of
a job," decided to -sit for a
portxagt, was offered and accep.
ted�e job of canvassing for
eiilarg rents• In 1878 he ap-
prenticed himself to the owner
of the studio, and three years
later was nurOered antalig the
rural. artists of Huron County.
He` as one of Many photo.
graphers with no more than.
a local reputation when a new
door opened in 1897, He had
planned to' spend the day id
a neighboring town, but an ap-
pointment at home: prevented it.
Free in the afternoon, he drove
with his young daughter and
one of her lady friends to
Point arm summer resort#
north of Goderich. There, with
his two companions posing Qrl
a huge rock on Lake Huron's
shore, he made the negative "
which marked the commence,,
Ment of a career as landscape
photographer. He gave the plc.
ture a title:
"Afar o'er the waters a
sail I see!
What are the tidings it
brings to me?"
A copy was sent to a manta. -
facturing firm in Rochester, and •
it was used in a catalogue,
(Considering all the photogr. •
aphy now basted on Rochester,
that wss an interesting tran.
saction.) The picture was also
used by the Buffalo Express,
Toronto Globe, the Inland Pr.
inter and other publications,
"During the next six years,"
Mr. Sallows wrote long after.
ward,' ,I. addad. gradually to.my
licollection of outdoor studies,
n 1903 I received a letter from
a Philadelphia firm asking me
to send them a collection of
photographs. I sent them 12
prints, Ten of these were, aca
cepted; the others were returns
ed along with ,the glad tidings
- a cheque for $50. Sixty dol.
lars a dozed! For the same
work at home my regular cus.
tourers were pang me $6. perg
dozen. This was' the -first money
I had ever received for any
commercial work; and it cer-
tainly woke me up ... The
fottowing year my efforts in the
commercial sphere were much
more liberally rewarded."
Readers too young to recall
4
E DA,TEBAC.K
ND BEY • ND
j
•
n
c'
O
Vik
rG
An
Gr
July
Ilur
d Run By My
father In. The
dition Of The
Signal, 1867.
otice in the bottom left
'hand corner thatthis ad was
dated 1866. In the early years
all advertisements were dated
and.this ad was still running
in July of 1.867.
the period in which Mc Sal.
lows pioneered camera art
should note certain circuunst•
ances. Newspapers nowadays
are profusely illustrated with
a great variety of pictures, but
when R. R. Sallows began his
special line of work the news.
paper4 published mostly single.
collrnln cuts of people. For
other pictures they often hired
professional photographers; the
age of multiple cameramen on
big papers was just beginning
When a "spot" story seemed
- to • demand illustration, there
appeared putsof fires, accida
enj`s or crrir{ie :shots like"X"
marks the spot. Of art for
art's* sake there was. little
N,exeept in fine -paper editions
such as the Christmas Globe
or the Buffalo Express. Such
publications took Sallows plc.
• tures eagerly.
' What he actyally sold was a
talent, for recognizing (Or occa.
signally organizing) out -of -the
ordinary -scenes. He wrote:.
"The popular approval With
which . my, work was received
urgedme to use all mj "ef.
forts to place in my produc.
tions a mark of distinctive qua.
lity. I always strive to take
persons unaware, in their nat.
ural moods, at theirr common
callings, or in familiar sift.
roundings, which I find imparts
natural and lifelike .qualities
tp all my studies,"
He made scenes of rural
life, of Nature in her wildest
as well as her loveliest moods;
hunting, fishing, boating and
camping scenes. The C.P.R.
sent him -)n long trips; farm
publications_arrd government de.
partments used ictures.
Some of , them peppe up the
immigration.' terature' of the
period. Sallows pictures went
to Britain to various European
centres, -t6 Australia and India.
Rod and Gun, then published.
in Woodstock, presented in Dec-
ember 1912, a number, of al -
low's pictures. (In the adv rt.
ising columns the Tudho e
Motor Co. *of Orillia was off.
ering a six -,cylinder car "WOl
electric cranking" for $2,500,)
A Sallows photo of a snow-
shoe party on Cache Lake sho.
•
Reuben R. Sallows, a master of the camera, working With heavy
equipment and the slow glass plates of "years gone by, created
what are now acknowledged to be scenic masterpieces in Goderich
and district. He' is seen as, he appeared at•the height of his
career, which took him far afield, often to the then -wild Canadian
northlands.
wed the ladies wearing skirts
of a length that must have-
raised readers' doubts of their
ability to go anywhere on snow-
shoes.
With what tools did he work?
Rudyard Kipling, answering this
question in his autobiography,
described pens, inkpots, peper-
weights and various, gadgets
throukh which inanimate objects
his,zenius reached the public.
R. -R. Sallows carried cameras
using 5 x 7 and 6 x 8 plates.
They, were ,heavy affairs) one
a Graphlex ,which means that
he necessarily - used a tripod
in his outdoor work. Press
photographers today, usingnarnt.
row film in compact rolls, mar
find it hard to •imagine slug.
ging heavy cameras and loaded
plateholders inte lumberingand
hunting camps in winter, and
getting the exposed plates sal.
ely . home. _ The pictures •Mr•
Sallows sent out for publication
were backed prints, to prevent
curling. Hundreds of -them are
u possession of a daughter in
Goderich, Mrs, C. N. Saunders.
From 1916, Mr.Sallowstowned
a car, which became a travel.
ing studio. He was driving to
a photographic assignment when
his car overturned in loose 4,
gravel on Highway 21 south of
Kintail. That was in '1937. He
was 82. The injuries received
`Prov d.fatal.
" ie era oP'cZeesecake" pic.
(continued on page 5)
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HERE IS
rep
goes back a
ears .
,er.tCbi
•
•
GtOY EMERSON
welcomes you
Goderich's Oldest Family Business
WELCOMES Y
}
CONFEDERATION YEAR OLD HOME WEEK
HOME
26 years have come and gone since we first opened the dde,r..,,,„,on„
to our first customer: r
I have enjoyed all the years in Goderich both in the store and
those spent in sports activities.
We, know there will be a lot 'of fou coming home this week
who we dispense'd drbgs for' when you were sick childran.
Later years we probably rubbed shoulders again in sports.
To Young and old returnees we 'say welcome. Come in and
reminisce• with us won't you? -
MERSON
THE SQUARE
DRUG STORE
s
524-9212