An eye for photography leads to exceptional collection
William Notman, From Custom House, Looking East, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ca. 1878, albumen silver print. The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection.
Great photographers are often ahead of their time – as are great collectors. Howard and Carole Tanenbaum began collecting photographs in the mid-1970s, when the market for the medium was still growing. “Because photography was considered a secondary medium for so long, it was quite challenging to find people who were interested,” said Carole Tanenbaum. “We would invite curators and collectors to the house to see our collection and, of course, we would travel and visit other professionals at museums outside of Canada.”
The Tanenbaums’ private collection has grown to become one of Canada’s great holdings of photography, and will be shared with the public in a new Ryerson Image Centre exhibition that opens January 23.
William Notman & Son studio, [Horseshoe Falls], ca. 1895, albumen silver print. The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection.
True to the Eyes: The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection presents 200 photographic works that span the history of the medium, displayed chronologically across two gallery spaces.
Alongside iconic images by significant North-American and European masters such as Diane Arbus, Southworth and Hawes, William Notman, Ernest J. Bellocq, Brassaï, Lisette Model, Mary Ellen Mark, Jim Goldberg, and Edward Burtynsky, are intimate objects, such as nineteenth-century cased daguerreotypes decorated with leather, papier mâché, and mother-of-pearl.
Through four decades of building their collection, the couple has acquired images revealing aspects of family, wealth and poverty, civil rights, nature and the land, and Canadian life. Genres include studio portraiture, commercial landscapes, family pictures, art photography, fashion imagery, and documentary work.
Lewis Hine, [Newsboys], ca. 1909, gelatin silver print. The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection.
“For the Tanenbaums, collecting is more a social and creative act than a solitary pursuit,” said Paul Roth, director of the RIC and co-curator of True to the Eyes. “They appreciate photographs for the pleasure they bring, but also as catalysts for understanding. This drive — to understand the lives of others through photography — is the animating force behind their collecting.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public until April 7 at the Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould St. Other events include a behind-the-scenes tour of the collection led by curators Paul Roth and Charlene Heath, February 6 at 6:00 p.m.; and “Collectors in Conversation,” a panel discussion about the building of the collection, February 13 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit ryersonimagecentre.ca (external link) .
Unidentified photographer, [Portrait of three young girls], ca. 1850, framed daguerreotype. The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection.