Camera Workers, 1858-1950

The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

Hoy, Chow Dong[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Male 1883 - 1973  (89 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Hoy, Chow Dong 
    • VARIANT NAME: Hoy, C.D. (real name: Chow, Dong Hoy).
    Birth 16 Aug 1883  Sui Soon Lee (village), Hoi Ping district, Guangdong province, China Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    • His death registration record gives his birth date as 2 Jul 1883 and birthplace as Canton, China.
    Gender Male 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1911-1924?  Quesnel, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1909  Barkerville, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Ethnicity Chinese 
    Death 9 Mar 1973  Quesnel, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Burial 12 Mar 1973  Quesnel Municipal Cemetery, Quesnel, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Person ID I1216  Camera Workers | H, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 19 Mar 2018 

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Arriving in Vancouver, BC, in 1902 on the Empress of China, Hoy moved to Quesnel in 1903 where he hoped employment prospects were better than being a houseboy in Vancouver. After a variety of work experiences in the region, he moved to Barkerville in 1909. According to Moosang's biography, Hoy appears to have taught himself photography that year to supplement his income as a watch repairer and barber. Hoy returned to China in 1910 to marry, but his wife was unable to return with him to Quesnel until 1917. In 1911 Hoy worked for the Moffat and then the Webster family as a farmhand and began photographing again. He permanently established his family in Quesnel in 1917 and photographed there and in Barkerville until the early 1920s. According to Moosang, his portrait photography was a sideline operated out of his general store.
      Hoy photographed Chinese, Caucasian and Natives in both interior and exterior poses. Some of Hoy's work is highly reminiscent of Frank Matsura's portraits from Okanogan County, Washington State, as well as with August Sander's (1876-1964) ethnographic photography in Germany in the 1910s and 1920s.
      The Hoy family donated his negatives to Barkerville Historic Town in 1990. An exhibit honouring C.D. Hoy's contribution to photography and the region, organized by Faith Moosang, toured the province in 1999-2000. Her 1999 biography was shortlisted for two year 2000 BC Book Prizes categories. Faith Moosang also co-directed the documentary video Chow Dong Hoy: Portraits from the Frontier (Make Believe Media, 2003).

  • Sources 
    1. [S1020] COLLECTION: BBARK.
      Glass negatives

    2. [S330] Joann Roe, Roe (1981), (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1981).

    3. [S618] Faith Moosang, curator, Moosang (1997), (Barkerville?, BC: Barkerville Historic Town?, 1997).

    4. [S619] Faith Moosang, Moosang (1999), (Vancouver, BC: Presentation House Gallery Arsenal Pulp Press, 1999).

    5. [S577] Produced by Lynn Booth. Directed by Lynn Booth and Faith Moosang. Edited by Heather Frise, Make Believe Media (2003), (Vancouver, B.C.: Make Believe Media, 2003).

    6. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Registration no. 1973-09-003941 (microfilm B13323); digital facsimile URL (accessed 19 Mar 2018): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/9ed4b897-110a-4c18-be34-8aaeb686921c