Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

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Taylor, Isabel C.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]

Female


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  • Name Taylor, Isabel C. 
    • VARIANT NAMES: Dunbar, Mrs. Archibald; Taylor, Mrs. S.C.
    Gender Female 
    Association Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association (Relationship: Member) 
    Person ID I689  Camera Workers | T, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 1 Sep 2019 

  • Documents
    Part of Montreal Camera Club membership, ca. 1894    		Part of Montreal Camera Club membership, ca. 1894
    From The Blue Book for Amateur Photographers by Walter Sprange (American ed., 1895), p. 154. "Mrs. A. Dunbar Taylor" is at the bottom.
    Toronto Camera Club 1902 exhibit entries from Isabel C. Taylor    		Toronto Camera Club 1902 exhibit entries from Isabel C. Taylor
    Isabel C. Taylor's 1902 Toronto Camera Club exhibit entries reviewed by J.E. Greene    		Isabel C. Taylor's 1902 Toronto Camera Club exhibit entries reviewed by J.E. Greene

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: A member with her lawyer husband of the Montreal Camera Club in 1895, they moved to Vancouver in the late 1890s. Her photographs attracted some attention at two exhibits organized by the Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association, in July and September 1900, and again in 1902 when she exhibited 10 prints, likely in the Pictorialist style popular in the photo salons at that time, in the Toronto Camera Club's 11th annual exhibition. One of these photographs, a platinum print titled "Gertrude Vandyke--Portrait" , was awarded a silver medal at the latter exhibit.
      At the July 11, 1900 Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association evening exhibit in O'Brien's Hall, Mrs. Taylor's photographs were praised:
      A collection of figure studies in photography, by Mrs. Taylor, was another conspicuous feature. In this was demonstrated the fact that the making of pictures--that shall have artistic sentiment as well as technical excellence--by photographic process is not only a possibility, it is achieved,and in Mrs. Taylor's case with a marked success.

      In addition to exhibiting her photography, Mrs. Taylor also entertained visitors with a violincello duet with Mr. F.W. Dyke on piano. The Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association held its first meeting to organize on April 6, 1900 in the Lefevre Block in rooms of the Art Workers Guild. According to the minutes book, no women were present. A subcommittee on amateur photography was established on May 19, 1900. A list of members who would be eligible to attend the first exhibit held in July did not include Mrs. Taylor. In the records of the association at the City of Vancouver Archives are three photographs of the July 11, 1900 exhibit identified as showing "Amateur photography by Mrs. A. Dunbar Taylor." The association held a second exhibit in September identified on the catalogue as its first annual exhibition. This exhibit was held in the Theatre Royal from September 25 to 27, 1900. Mrs. Taylor's "collection of photos" was catalogue entry 96. She was misidentified in the catalogue and in a Daily News-Advertiser report as "Mrs. S.C. Taylor."
      One of her photographs, "Sweet Sixteen", was exhibited at the fourth Philadelphia Photographic Salon in 1901. She also exhibit four prints at the ninth annual exhibition of the Photographic Salon in London, Eng., which was held at the Dudley Gallery between 20 Sep to 2 Nov 1901.
      Mrs. Taylor drew further praise from photographer-critic Harold Mortimer-Lamb, who noted her work in a 1905 article in Photograms of the Year: "In the West, in British Columbia, Mrs. Dunbar Taylor, the sister (by the way) of the Secretary of the London [Photographic] Salon, is the only pictorial worker of any force or originality."
    • FORMATS: Portraits (platinum prints).

  • Sources 
    1. [S39] HEN99, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1899) (Reliability: 2).
      Not listed.

    2. [S41] HEN00, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1900) (Reliability: 2).
      Vancouver: Taylor, A Dunbar, of Taylor, Bradburn & Innes, h 1225 Georgia

    3. [S42] HEN01, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1901) (Reliability: 2).
      Vancouver: Taylor same as 1900-01, but h 1400 Georgia [between Broughton and Nicola]

    4. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), Ref. NW 324.1 B862. (Reliability: 3), 7 May 1900.
      Vancouver City Electoral District, no. 7033, Taylor, Archibald Dunbar, [residence] 794 Burrard St., Barrister-at-law

    5. [S709] BVAA archival records (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.
      Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association fonds, AM142, especially three photographs of the 11 Jul 1900 exhibit, with an anonymous pencilled annotation on one photo, "Amateur photography by Mrs. A. Dunbar Taylor", and First Annual Exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Association in the Theatre Royal, September 25th, 26th and 27th, 1900, which refers to "Collection of Photos by Mrs. S.C. Taylor" [sic]

    6. [S463] Sprange (1895), Walter Sprange, (Beach Bluff, Mass.: W. Sprange, 1895), 154 (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.
      "Montreal Camera Club ... Mrs. A. Dunbar Taylor, Westmount, Montreal."

    7. [S627] (Vancouver) World, (Vancouver: World), 7 (Reliability: 3), 12 Jul 1900.
      "Arts and Crafts: Very Sucessful Conversazione and Exhibition Given Last Evening" refers to "Mrs. Taylor"

    8. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 5 (Reliability: 3), 27 Sep 1900.
      Exhibit review, mentions "work of Mrs. S.C. Taylor" [sic].

    9. [S838] Fourth Philadelphia Photographic Salon (1901), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Photographic Society of Philadelphia, (Philadelphia: [Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Photographic Society of Philadelphia]), 29 (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.
      Her address is 1400 Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    10. [S1051] Dudley Gallery (1901), (London, Eng.: Dudley Gallery, 1901).
      Mrs. Isabel C. Taylor exhibited four photographs at this salon.

    11. [S835] Toronto Camera Club (1902), Toronto Camera Club, (Toronto Camera Club), 13 (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.
      "Isabel C. Taylor, Vancouver, B.C."
      Lists 10 photographs by title she exhibited.

    12. [S836] Professional and Amateur Photographer (1902), (Buffalo, NY: Professional Photographer), 177 (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.
      J.E. Greene, "The Toronto Camera Club's Eleventh Annual Exhibition." Includes a review of Isabel C. Taylor's entries.

    13. [S837] Photograms of the Year, (London, Eng.: Iliffe and Sons), 86 (Reliability: 3), 1905.
      H. Mortimer-Lamb, "Pictorial Photography in Canada".

    14. [S380] Koltun (1984), Lilly Koltun, ed., (Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1984) (Reliability: 3), 18 Dec 2016.