{"id":10833,"date":"2026-02-19T12:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asc\/?p=10833"},"modified":"2026-02-19T12:13:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:13:59","slug":"film-from-the-falls-grant-collingwoods-tourist-snapshots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asc\/2026\/02\/film-from-the-falls-grant-collingwoods-tourist-snapshots\/","title":{"rendered":"Film from the Falls: Grant Collingwood’s Tourist Snapshots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opening a bankers box to re-house Canadian photographer Grant Collingwood\u2019s collection of film negatives is met with an exciting luck of the draw, as each box contains hundreds of closed envelopes with subject matter that varies from one envelope to the next.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collingwood\u2019s career spanned about five decades (1940s\u20131990s), during which, to his credit, he titled the housings in which his negatives were kept by name of the person or the content, and always by the year that it was taken. Even so, Collingwood was a busy man, and as such, his photographic content varied considerably. In 1952 alone, he was commissioned to capture a variety of subjects, including graduations, wedding anniversaries, personal portraits, and commercial booths at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), among others. However, in pockets between work, he found time for leisure, and on an overcast day in November of 1952 off he went with friends to photograph the monumental magic that is Niagara Falls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Falls themselves have roots in Indigenous culture and story telling, and hold their own various documentation; spanning from tourist photographs, daredevil attempts, and attractions such as the Maid of the Mist and Journey Behind The Falls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the early Onguiaahra Indigenous tribes in the region, their word \u201cOngiara\u201d evolved into \u201cNiagara\u201d by way of mispronunciation done by French colonists. It translates to \u201cThunder of Waters,\u201d and according to the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area, it is estimated that every second, 3,160 tons of water flow over the Falls, totalling 75,750 gallons over the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 681,750 gallons over the Horseshoe Falls. So, as I pulled out a perfectly square 6 x 6 negative from one of Collingwood\u2019s envelopes titled \u201cAt Niagara Falls\u201d I gawped at the photograph of Collingwood and others at the bottom of the vast waterfall, with seemingly just a small rubble hill and some rocky earth between them and the roaring water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scroll through the gallery to see more from the\u00a0Collingwood Collection.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n