Description
Book SynopsisMandated to foster a sense of national cohesion The National Film Board of Canada''s Still Photography Division was the country''s official photographer during the mid-twentieth century. Like the Farm Security Administration and other agencies in the US, the NFB used photographs to serve the nation. Division photographers shot everything from official state functions to images of the routine events of daily life, producing some of the most dynamic photographs of the time, seen by millions of Canadians - and international audiences - in newspapers, magazines, exhibitions, and filmstrips. In The Official Picture, Carol Payne argues that the Still Photography Division played a significant role in Canadian nation-building during WWII and the two decades that followed. Payne examines key images, themes, and periods in the Division''s history - including the depiction of women munitions workers, landscape photography in the 1950s and 60s, and portraits of Canadians during the Centennial in 1
Trade Review"Although the more well-known film activity of the NFB is widely studied, the photo division has been left out of discussions of film and art history alike. Through painstaking research and lucid analysis, this important work reconnects these areas, enriching discussions of documentary photography, film, and art history in Canada." Zoe Druick , School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, and the author of Projecting Canada: Government Policy and Documentary Film at the National Film Board of Canada "The wealth and variety of Payne's sources are exceptional, all of which she examines with intelligence and rigour. Through her remarkable understanding of the period and her compelling analysis of the images, Payne shows herself to be an accomplished art "The Official Picture marks an important turning point in studies on Canadian visual history by deconstructing images of government-approved Canadian nationalism and providing new questions for historians to ask of historic photographs. [It] should appeal
