Photo Archives and The Last Trip Of The Northlander

Photos by Muskoka Photographer Fred Schulz - The Canadian and the Last Trip of The Northlander - 

FOR THE LOVE OF TRAINS AND MUSKOKA - FRED SCHULZ HAS CAPTURED A LOT OF REGIONAL HISTORY - JUST IN NORMAL COURSE

THE IMPORTANCE OF VISUALS IN HISTORICAL REFERENCING

     A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, I ASKED MUSKOKA PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, HOW MANY PHOTOGRAPHS HE HAS TAKEN IN HIS PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY. I WASN'T SUGGESTING A FORENSIC AUDIT, TO GET AT THIS NUMBER, AND REALLY, IT WAS JUST A STATEMENT OF "OH WOW" IN THE GUISE OF A QUESTION. I COULD HAVE ANSWERED FOR HIM? A MILLION? TWO MILLION? AS FAR AS SHUTTER CLICKS, MAYBE MORE. FRED MAY LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN, AS ONLY THOSE ONES THAT HE CONSIDERED OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY. ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS OVER-SHOOT, AS I WAS TAUGHT IN MY FIRST PHOTO-JOURNALISM DAYS, WITH THE MUSKOKA LAKES-GEORGIAN BAY BEACON IN 1979. DUE TO THE FACT I WAS A TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE (CRAPPY) PHOTOGRAPHER, AND TYPICALLY CAME BACK WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO USABLE IMAGES, I WAS TOLD TO PERFORM EXTREME BRACKETING…..WHICH MEANT I HAD TO ADJUST SETTINGS, ONE UP, AND ONE DOWN, FROM WHAT THE CAMERA WAS TELLING ME WAS PERFECT. I'D GO WAY BEYOND THIS AND COME BACK WITH A WHOLE FREAKING ROLL SHOT OF ONE SUBJECT (EVENT)…..JUST TO GET THREE OR FOUR DECENT PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THAT WEEK'S PAPER. POINT IS, I TOOK A LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHS, BUT NOT SO MANY GOOD ONES. AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, I MADE A HELL OF A WRITER. I ONCE CAME BACK FROM A PHOTO SHOOT AND INTERVIEW, WITH MARINE SERVICE LEGEND, EDDY MORTIMER AND HIS WIFE, AND MUSKOKA FARMER AND CIVIC FIGURE, HENRY LONGHURST SR., WITHOUT EVEN ONE IN-FOCUS NEGATIVE TO USE FOR "THE MUSKOKA SUN." I HAD TO MAKE SECOND TRIPS MANY TIMES, TO MAKE UP FOR MISADVENTURES. ACCIDENTS SCENES? I LEARNED TO BRACKET LIKE A WILD MAN, SO THEY WOULDN'T FIRE ME. INSTEAD I COST THEM A FORTUNE IN FILM AND DEVELOPING.

    FRED WOULD, OF COURSE, HAVE A MUCH BETTER AVERAGE THAN I EVER HAD, AND BECAUSE HE SHOT A LOT OF WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARIES, BAPTISMS, FAMILY GATHERINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS, HE HAD TO POSSESS THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EXCELLENCE. THESE WERE EVENTS YOU COULDN'T SCREW UP, WITH POOR FOCUSING, AND LIGHTING MISCUES, BECAUSE THERE WERE NO CHANCES FOR "DO-OVERS." SO I IMAGINE HIS PILE OF "SECONDS" WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT SMALLER THAN MINE, DURING THOSE YEARS IN THE NEWSPAPER GRIND. THE REASON I WAS TALKING TO FRED ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS, WAS TO ACKNOWLEDGE JUST HOW MUCH MUSKOKA HISTORY HE HAS RECORDED…..WITHOUT EVER ONCE THINKING OF HIMSELF AS AN HISTORIAN. HE HAS TAKEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF LOCAL ARCHITECTURE, RURAL CHURCHES AND ADJACENT CEMETERIES, FARMSTEAD BUILDINGS, PAINTED BARNS, LIVESTOCK IN SPRING PASTURES, URBAN SCENES THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS, AND OF COURSE, HIS FAVORITE SUBJECT……TRAINS. FRED SCHULZ HAS HAD A LIFE LONG PASSION FOR TRAINS, AND HE LIKED TO HAVE HIS COFFEE BREAKS AT THE GRAVENHURST TRAIN STATION; AND IT WAS COMMON TO SEE HIM ON THE PLATFORM, LOOKING UP AND DOWN THAT LENGTH OF RIBBON RAILS, WITH HIS CAMERA AROUND HIS NECK, AND A LOT OF FILM TO EXPEND. HE HAS DONE US A FAVOR IN THIS REGION OF ONTARIO, AND CANADA, BY RECORDING EVENTS, SUCH AS THE FINAL VISIT OF THE NORTHLANDER TO GRAVENHURST IN 2012. THE RAIL SERVICE EXTENSION TO MUSKOKA, IN THE LATE 1800'S, WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC BOOST TO THE REGION, AND A BOON TO ONGOING SETTLEMENT OF THE LARGELY UNOCCUPIED FREE LAND GRANT REGION, IN MUSKOKA AND NORTHWARD. IT WAS A TRULY SAD DAY WHEN THE NORTHLANDER MADE ITS FINAL VISIT, BUT FRED WASN'T GOING TO MISS GETTING IT ALL DOCUMENTED FOR FUTURE POSTERITY.

     THESE "TIME CAPTURING" IMAGES ARE OF HUGE RELEVANCE TO THE STUDY OF MUSKOKA HISTORY, AND FOR HISTORIANS, IT WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER, IF THERE HAD BEEN MORE PHOTOGRAPHERS DOCUMENTING OUR REGION THROUGH THE DECADES……TO SUPPORT AND AUGMENT THE RESEARCH THAT HAS AND CONTINUES TO BE UNDERTAKEN THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT. I'M NOT SURE IF FRED HAS SPENT A LOT OF TIME CONTEMPLATING THE VALUE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION, OR NOT, UNTIL, THAT IS……. I BEGAN BADGERING HIM FOR IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," BLOGSITE, WHICH AS A DUO, WE PLAN TO RE-LAUNCH ON MONDAY, APRIL 1ST. TO HERALD THIS NEW COLLABORATION, I WANTED TO SHARE A FEW IMAGES FRED SENT ALONG TODAY, AS A SMALL SAMPLE OF WHAT HE'S BEEN PHOTOGRAPHING AND COLLECTING FOR YEARS……MOSTLY OUT OF INTEREST; BUT ADMITTEDLY, HE DIDN'T HAVE A FULL PLAN ON WHAT HE MIGHT LIKE TO DO WITH THEM, AS AN END GAME. I'M SO THRILLED THAT HE HAS AGREED TO SHARE THEM WITH ME, AND OF COURSE, WITH YOU, AND KEEP IN MIND, THAT MANY OF THESE IMAGES HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN BEFORE…..OR IF THEY HAVE, IT WAS BACK QUITE A FEW YEARS. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO MAKE A LITTLE HISTORY WITH THIS PROJECT, AND WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THAT?

     AS IS THE CASE WITH MOST, IF NOT ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS, A DRIVE AROUND THE REGION IS NEVER WITHOUT CAMERA GEAR CLOSE BY, FOR THOSE "JUST IN CASE" MOMENTS. I STOPPED CARRYING CAMERA EQUIPMENT WHEN I LEFT THE DAY TO DAY HUSTLE, OF THE WEEKLY PRESS. FRED HAS BEEN SO CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH CAMERAS, FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, THAT HE WOULDN'T FEEL RIGHT, NOT HAVING ONE WITHIN EASY REACH, IN THE ANTICIPATION THAT OUR MOST HISTORIC MOMENTS AREN'T SCHEDULED AS PHOTO-SHOOTS…..AND JUST SORT OF HAPPEN WHEN THEY ARE LEAST EXPECTED. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEAL, IS HIS OWN DESIRE TO CAPTURE MUSKOKA THROUGHOUT ITS SEASONS, RURAL AND URBAN, IN SNOW AND BAKING SUN, AND THE FRESHNESS OF EACH STARTING SEASON, FROM THE EMERGENCE OF NEW SPRING GROWTH, TO THE DEEP GREENS AND AZURE SKIES OF SUMMER; THE BRILLIANT HUES OF THE HARDWOODS, IN LATE SEPTEMBER, AND THE STORMY SKIES OVER THE BORDER PINES, IN THE COLD MISTY RAIN OF EARLY NOVEMBER. WHEN HE SEES SOMETHING HE DEEMS REMARKABLE, HE STOPS HIS MOTOR-TRIP, GETS THE GEAR TOGETHER, FINDS THE BEST VANTAGE POINT, THE COMPOSITION THAT DEFINES THE MOMENT, CLICKS AND CAPTURES THIS MOMENT IN TIME.

     WHEN I CALL FRED SCHULZ A FULL FLEDGED "MUSKOKA HISTORIAN," HE JUST SMILES AND BASHFULLY DISAGREES, THAT HE HAS HAD THIS KIND OF IMPACT AND EFFECT ON HIS HOME REGION. "I JUST ENJOY TRAVELING THROUGH MUSKOKA, AND WHEN YOU LIVE IN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL REGION, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE TEMPTED BY THE SEASONAL LANDSCAPES……THE ONES I COME ACROSS, WHILE DRIVING THE BACKROADS, THROUGH FORESTS AND PASTURES, ALONG LAKESHORES, AND MIST-COVERED MEADOWS…….LIKE THE ONES YOU COME UPON SHORTLY AFTER DAYLIGHT IN THE LATE SPRING. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT INTERESTING SCENE WILL UNFOLD, AROUND THE VERY NEXT TURN IN THE ROAD," HE SAYS, MODESTLY, ABOUT HIS BODY OF WORK. "I'M FROM MUSKOKA. I'VE SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE HERE, AND I HAVE ALWAYS FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE, WHAT FOR ME, HAS MADE IT SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. I'M ALWAYS ANXIOUS TO SHARE MY WORK WITH OTHERS……TRUSTING THAT THEY CAN ALSO SENSE THE SAME FEELINGS ABOUT THE SEASONS OF MUSKOKA."

     I THINK HE'S WAY TOO MODEST, AND OVER THE COMING MONTHS, I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU, VIA THIS BLOG AND "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," A SMALL SELECTION OF FRED'S PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK, SOME CURRENT, AND SOME FROM HIS MASSIVE ARCHIVE COLLECTION…….WHICH WILL BE A TREAT…..AND HISTORY IN THE MAKING. I'VE WORKED WITH MANY OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THIS REGION, BACK IN MY MEDIA DAYS, BUT THIS IS GOING TO BE THE ZENITH FOR ME, AS BOTH A WRITER AND HISTORIAN……AND A COLLECTOR VERY INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY GENERALLY. I HAVE INCLUDED A FEW WITH THIS BLOG TODAY, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO RUN IMAGES FROM FRED'S PRIVATE STOCK, TO HEAD THIS BLOG FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS AT LEAST.

I AM A HOARDER OF OLD NEGATIVES

     I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, but with my recent dealings with Fred's collection of heritage photographs, of Muskoka, I began digging through my own archives, finding boxes of negatives and photographs dating back to the early 1900's, featuring hundreds of images of steamships plying the Muskoka Lakes. A large part of our family's collection came from the estate of Reverend Reid, and his family, of Toronto and Muskoka, specifically Browning Island, where they had a cottage for many years. Some of the prints from these negatives were sold several years ago, to offset the purchase price…….the negatives being kept for future posterity. When we started selling Muskoka memorabilia, back in the late 1980's, our vintage photographs, collected to that point, sold extremely well, and we found ourselves advertising for more collections to meet the demand…..which we had grossly underestimated.

     Our first major acquisition was a large collection of small format glass slides, mostly of Wigwassan Lodge, circa 1950's, on Lake Rosseau, (Windermere), from a former resort employee. In the collection were some great photographs of water skiers being pulled by the Ditchburns they owned……(three I believe, known as the "Wiggy" boats). We have several left from this collection, (duplicates we wanted for our own archives), that was sold about ten years ago. We also purchased another large collection off the estate of Dr. Wilfred and Ruth Bennett, of Gravenhurst, that offered some outstanding images of the Village of Bala, where they had their cottage. Dr. Bennett, a highly competent photographer, was the former Chief Medical Officer of Health, for the Muskoka-Parry Sound Health Unit. Mrs. Bennett was the author of three significant Muskoka related books, including "Diary of a Muskoka Maid," "Yorkshire Rose," and "Where the Loons Call." I purchased ninety percent of the Bennett's Muskoka reference library, and hundreds of examples of Ruth's art work. She was also a well known regional artist. We have sold off all of her art work, and most of the photo-archives, and outside of her own signed first editions, which we kept for our private Muskoka collection, the books all found homes with hobby historians, we work with frequently, to build their own reference libraries. Of course I have regrets selling these heirloom pieces from our district of Ontario, but it's part and parcel of being an antique dealer most of the time, an historian part time, and a writer torn between the disciplines of "to collect, or not to collect, and how to pay the mortgage."

     I have put my remaining photo archives on the "do not sell" list, which has been bent, manipulated, stretched, and tested many times before…..so I won't make any ridiculous claims about its certain longevity. I would like to expand my collection, and this can happen any day, when you're in front-line, main street antiques. Unfortunately, at times, it's hard to justify the many hundreds of dollars, and thousands, it can take to acquire a collection of merit……for its historical context, and to hell with profit. That's the unfortunate confluence between professions. The historian "me" doesn't want to part with any of the collection, and the antique dealer "me" argues, "there's more where that came from," to justify the cycle of buy and sell that keeps us in business. It's always been a fifty-fifty split for me, over my professional years in both capacities, so I suppose it's alright if this continues on for a few more years…..as the writer "me" likes consistency most of all. The consistency is that I can use these negatives for historical gains, as well as using them to profit when the need is most profound……and whether I keep them, or sell half, I've always got something to write about.

     I hope you like the Fred Schulz photographs I've included with this blog. I hope it will be reflected, throughout this partnership between photographer and writer, that we both love our home region, and wish to represent it responsibly, and a little boastfully…..which honestly, after a lifetime, we feel incumbently well suited to present. The editorial copy, and photographs, should demonstrate pretty clearly, how glad we are, when someone calls us "Muskokans," and we can retaliate, by agreeing enthusiastically, "Yes we are!" Thanks for visiting today, and I hope you can stick around for the "picture-show" in the works. See you again soon. Thanks so much for your loyalty these past months. Before April concludes, this blog will have hit the 100,000 mark, of views, in less than a year and a half of daily publishing. I began with twenty hits a day, to the present, when that number often reaches 600 readers per day. It comes to you from the heart of Gravenhurst, Ontario……in beautiful South Muskoka. Thanks again. I take nothing for granted, and I can only hope that I can meet your demands for blogs of interest.