Extra! Extra! exhibit logo
Curated by Bobbie Fox
Introduction
The Lethbridge Herald has been in publication for 115 years. During that time, it has served as the eyes, ears and voice of Lethbridge. Through photographs and articles, it has shared every facet of life in Lethbridge, both triumphs and tragedies. Lethbridge Herald photographs hold a collective visual memory for this city and are one of the larger photographic collections in the Galt Archives.
The technology used to capture these images has changed greatly over the last century of the paper’s existence. Cameras evolved from early 35 mm capability during the early decades of the twentieth century to digital cameras by the dawn of the twenty-first century. Throughout all the changes with camera technology, timing remains one of the most important skills of the Herald photojournalist.
There have been many talented Herald photographers over the years. This exhibit highlights four of the most prolific over the last 115 years—Orville Brunelle, Lloyd Knight, David Rossiter and Ian Martens. Not only are their photos a wonderful historical resource but many of these images qualify as art. The goal of this exhibit is to display this collection's historical value and its artistic one. The photos appear matched with their corresponding Lethbridge Herald article where possible and the photographer noted.
Lloyd Knight—From Paper Carrier to Engraver
Lloyd Knight with camera in the 1940s.
Galt Museum & Archives, 19752910261
From 1938 to 1951, the Lethbridge Herald employed Lloyd Knight right at the beginning of his career. He started out as a paper carrier but quickly rose through the ranks to become a photo engraver and staff photographer.
Lloyd left the Lethbridge Herald in 1951 to form his own photography studio. His studio was located in his house and called Knight & Day Studio. It was in operation until 1964. During that time, Lloyd’s photos still found their way onto the pages of the Lethbridge Herald. He freelanced for the paper as a contributing photographer. In 1961, the Alberta Professional Photographers Association awarded him the Highwood Cup and the Bronze Plaque for his portrait photography.
Lloyd served as a paratrooper during the Second World War and became an active member of the Lethbridge Flying Club. He contributed his talent as a photographer to document the group’s activities on film. It was through this association with the flying club that Lloyd was able to capture many amazing aerial images of Lethbridge and southern Alberta, which can now be found in the Galt Archives collection.
Orville Brunelle—Iconic Photographer
Lethbridge Herald Photo Editor and photographer, Orville Brunelle, January 24, 1964.
Galt Museum& Archives, 197529101715
Orville Brunelle had quite the career before he joined the staff of the Lethbridge Herald in 1952. He served with the Canadian Army Public Relations Branch during the Second World War. His first stint as a newspaper photographer was earlier in 1933 for the Prince Albert Daily Herald. After the war, Orville found himself as the head of the photography department of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix until 1952 when he started working for the Lethbridge Herald.
Orville was not only a staff photographer during his 14 years at the Herald; he was also a reporter, photo engraver, and eventually photo editor. Known for taking the “…most famous photo ever taken in the City of Lethbridge…” according to Alex Johnston, the former president of the Lethbridge Historical Society, Orville captured many fascinating moments of life in Lethbridge. However, the iconic photo he captured in February of 1953 won him accolades from the Canadian Press. The image of Mayor Shackleford electrocuted between two microphones appeared in over 1,300 magazines and newspapers across the world including Time magazine, the London Daily Mirror and various print media in Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
Near the end of his career, Orville added educator to the list of his achievements when he began teaching in the Journalism program at Lethbridge Community College in 1973.
David Rossiter—Photographer, Artist
David Rossiter, who hails from Lethbridge, was a staff photographer for the Lethbridge Herald for 29 years from 1985 to 2014. The Birmingham School of Art alum has been a professional photographer for much longer than that, however, starting in his profession in 1972. Over his career in photojournalism, David’s pictures have graced the pages of Canadian Geographic, Maclean’s, National Post, and many publications throughout Europe. Many of his photos were nominated for awards from organizations including the News Photographers Association of Canada and the Canadian Press’ National Newspaper Awards.
David Rossiter Self Portrait
Photo courtesy David Rossiter
David cites the work of photographers like Walker Evans, David Kennerly and David McCullin as his inspiration. His work has been part of many different exhibits at the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, the Public Library gallery, and here at the Galt Museum & Archives. Yet with all of the images he has captured, none stand out as his favourite. David says he
…always appreciated the fact I worked in a 24-hour news cycle. Once the presses were running, I was thinking about the next shift and what challenges were ahead.
His favourite memories from his time as a Herald photographer are of the “…thousands of people over the years who let me into their lives.”
During his career, David saw many changes in the newspaper industry. The move to digital photography was perhaps one of the biggest. A change he fully embraced in 2000 with his first digital breaking news photograph taken during a trial at the courthouse. He found that the speed of
…getting the work into the system for the editors and out to the world via The Canadian Press wire service in minutes was liberating. I looked forward to going from black and white to colour, then to digital and adding video to the mix.
Although he does admit, he has seen the value of staff photographers change over the last twenty years. Currently, few regional newspapers have photojournalist positions. Still, David takes pride in knowing during his time with the Herald he always met his deadlines because “…it’s very much a no-excuse business.”
Ian Martens—Photojournalist
Ian Martens always knew he would be a photographer but the motivation that put him on the path to photojournalism happened when he was finishing high school.
…the powerful images from around the world that I saw coming out of the political unrest of the early-mid 90s. Things like Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Iron Curtain, the conflict in Yugoslavia, Africa in crisis, the L.A. riots, sparked an interest in how images could convey deeper significance and shine a spotlight on important issues and events that would otherwise go unseen. I can’t say any one person or photographer inspired me to become a photojournalist—it was the images themselves.
Ian Martens with his camera.
Photo by Galt Museum & Archives / Graham Ruttan
Ian started with the Lethbridge Herald 27 years ago in 1994; his first photo was of a health care worker aiding a person involved in a vehicle collision. In the beginning, he worked as a freelancer and this led to a permanent staff position in 2001. His photos have also appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Press, the Edmonton Journal as well as Reuters news agency.
Over his career, Ian has won two National Newspaper Awards from the Canadian Press for his photo of a bride silhouetted by moonlight in 2008 and a crashing jet during practice at the Air Show in 2010. Although best known for these images, Ian says “…when I sift out my favourites it really comes down to more of a collection of work over time that I’m most proud of. Personally, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one.” He does recall one special moment early in his career.
I remember early in my career being struck by the privilege of the opportunity to be in a family’s living room photographing their little boy, who had no fingers on his hands, building Lego just like any other little boy would. Or more recently, being invited to photograph a special ceremony honouring the victims of the residential school system on the very site of their former residential school.
There are so many exciting experiences that come with working as a journalist, but these moments when people pull back the curtain on their lives and allow me to see what’s important to them, these are my favourite moments.
Ian’s career has spanned the evolution of film-based photojournalism to digital. Along with that change the speed with which news is shared has increased as well in the last twenty years. Still, his philosophy about photojournalism hasn’t changed.
…[I believe that] storytelling is still storytelling—photos or words. The aim is to get accurate, important and interesting news that’s of value to our readers. Photographs are still taken by photographers using their brains, eyes and hearts. It doesn’t matter if that’s done with an iPhone or an expensive SLR camera, whether it’s read on a piece of paper or a computer screen—the story is still what really matters.
Thank you
A sincere thank you to David Rossiter for sharing his memories of working at the Lethbridge Herald and thoughts about photojournalism.
A debt of gratitude to Ian Martens for not only sharing his memories and thoughts about working as a photojournalist but for helping to collect the Herald photos in this exhibit that are not currently housed in the Galt Archives.