William Notman

The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Montreal, Cambridge and Philadelphia. Residence is recorded at Canada. Positions recorded include Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Work by William Notman is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Canada, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Notman Photographic Archives, J. Paul Getty Museum and Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Distinctions recorded are Person of National Historic Significance.

• Name — William Notman • Born — 8 March 1826 • Birthplace — Paisley, Scotland • Died — 25 November 1891 • Place of death — Montreal, Quebec, Canada • Occupation — Photographer, businessman • Illustration — William Notman and his sons William Mcf., Charles, and George. Taken in his studio in 1890.

• Illustration — Five men curling (albumen print), The National Galleries of Scotland Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1826. He received a decent education, which included lessons in painting and drawing. He moved to Montreal in the summer of 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on Bleury Street, a location close to Montreal's central commercial district, where he attracted clients who were members of the political and business elite. His first important commission was the documentation of the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River. The bridge opened with great fanfare in 1860, attended by the Prince of Wales and Notman's camera. The gift to the prince of a maple box containing Notman's photographs of the construction of the bridge and scenes of Canada East and Canada West so pleased Queen Victoria that, according to family tradition, she named him "Photographer to the Queen." Notman's status and business grew over the next three decades. He established branches throughout Canada and the United States, including seasonal branches at Yale and Harvard universities to cater to the student trade. Notman was also an active member of the Montreal artistic community; he collaborated with other artists such as Alexander Henderson to sponsor and host art exhibitions in his studio. The studio also provided training for aspiring photographers and painters. Notman was highly regarded by his colleagues for his innovative photography, and held patents for some of the techniques he developed to recreate winter within the studio walls. He could simulate the presence of ice and snow in the studio, replicate fire using magnesium flares, and create naturalistic photographs using an innovative composite technique. His professional renown and financial success may largely be attributed to his winter scenes. He won medals at exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, and Australia. Notman's celebrity was also bolstered by his portraits of famous subjects such as one of Sitting Bull (Sioux name Tatanka Iyotake) and Buffalo Bill (born William Frederick Cody). • Illustration — Composite Photograph of Carnival, South End Exhibition Rink, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, February 1899. The carefully prepared composite photograph was a Notman specialty Photography during the mid-19th century was not the simple process it later became. The typical tourist generally did not carry a camera and much of the Notman studio's images were taken with the tourist's needs in mind. Visitors would look through Notman's picture books and chose views, to buy individually mounted or perhaps made up into an album, and have a portrait taken as well. Street scenes in the burgeoning cities of Canada, the magnificence of modern transportation by rail and steam, expansive landscapes and the natural wonders, were all in demand either as 8" x 10" print, or in the popular stereographic form, and were duly recorded by the many staff photographers working for the Notman studio. He was a regular contributor to the photographic journal Philadelphia Photographer and in partnership with its editor, Edward Wilson, formed the Centennial Photographic Company for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, held in honour of the 100th anniversary of the United States in 1876. He won the only gold medal to be awarded by the British judges and the portrait identification card required for entrance to the grounds was the ancestor of today's various photo-ID cards. When William Notman died suddenly in November 1891 after a short bout of pneumonia, management of the studio Wm Notman & Son was left to his son William McFarlane Notman, an experienced photographer in his own right, who with his brothers, had accompanied the itinerant settlement known as "End of Track" for the Canadian Pacific Railway and documented the completion of the railway in Western Canada.

• Illustration — Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill (1885), by Notman • Illustration — Joseph Howe by William Notman • Illustration — Joseph Howe by Henry Sandham, Province House (Nova Scotia), from photo by Notman • Illustration — Elmira Rastel de Rocheblave by Notman • Illustration — William Henry Jeffrey, 1865, by William Notman. • Illustration — John A. Macdonald, 1863, first prime minister of Canada.

William Notman was recorded at birth as William McFarlane Notman. The authorities additionally record the headings W. Notman and Wm. His recorded language was English. 2 children are recorded: William McFarlane Notman and Charles Notman.

Recorded position is Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. He worked at Montreal, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Canada.

William Notman is recorded as photographer, businessperson and entrepreneur.