The Village Squire, 1981-05, Page 19GODEF IGH
ONT.
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Portrait U Landscape
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dozen- 1 would be foolish to confine
myself to portrait work alone."
Sallow's work had just begun. In 1913.
the Immigration Department engaged
him to travel to the prairie provinces to
take publicity pictures. On three trips to
western Canada for the Canadian Pacific
Railway, he took some of the first pictures
of the Doukhobors, immigrants from
Russia who settled in western Canada.
According to an article written in 1941 by
Harry Boyle, now "the Doukhobors
wanted nothing to do with the box that
made pictures, nor the man who operated
it."
Apparently, Sallows persisted --talking
to them, playing with the children.
Finally he got results --pictures of Douk-
hobor women standing beside their
houses with mud and grass thatched
roofs, children working and playing. He
had an opportunity to photograph a
Doukhobor nudist parade. These pictures
were never offered for publication.
Sallows travelled the northwest, living
with the Indians part of the time. They
called him "the picture man" and
thought him somewhat foolish going
around with a picture box.
He went to the Arctic --to the tundra,
photographing snow scenes. dog sleds.
trappers. He went to Algonquin Park; he
took pictures of hunting camps; to
Quebec taking photographs of children
praying at roadside shrines. pictures of
habitant farmers.
His work was published extensively.
The first illustrated picture magazines of
that time published as many as 12 of his
photographs in an issue. Rod and Gun.
then published in Woodstock. had a
number of his prints in the December
1912 issue.
By 1916, Sallows had 6,000 six by eight
"backed" prints. He had hardly started.
He took his camera out to the fields and
farms, taking pictures of everyday people
doing everyday things. capturing the full
range of their activities --seeding. picking
apples, cutting wood. harvesting, build-
ing fences. All recorded in photographs.
A priceless collection.
Sallows used the older type view
camera which had to be set on a tripod.
the type with a black hood at the back. He
would duck under this cloth to focus the
camera and adjust the plate. Negatives
were created on glass plates measuring
five by seven and six by eight inches.
Reuben R. Sallows was born in
Colborne township in 1855. and lived
most of his long life in Goderich on the
east side of Church St. He was married to
Flora McKinnon and they had three
children: D.D. Sallows, Verna and Flor-
ence. In 1917. the year after his wife died,
he married Clara Bamford and they had a
daughter, Nancy Jean, now Nancy Cook.
Mrs. Cook says she does remember her
father but she was only eight when he
died; she remembers riding around in the
car with him.
PG. 18 VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1981