Gowen’s Brandon: Then and Now
One of the many historic photographs taken by Frank Gowen of Brandon. This photograph is from the City of Brandon Collection held at the Magnacca Research Center, Daly House Museum.
The Daly House Museum is pleased to partner with the S.J. McKee Archives (Brandon University) for the upcoming exhibit “Gowen’s Brandon: Then and Now.” Using historical photographs taken by Frank Gowen, a professional photographer in Brandon from 1906-1914, the project will compare Brandon during a period of unprecedented development (c. 1911) to the Brandon we see today.
Between 1900 and the beginning of the World War I, the city of Brandon’s population more than doubled going from approximately 5,600 residents to just under 14, 000. As a result, Brandon’s industrial, business and residential districts saw significant development in the first decade of the twentieth century. Frank Gowen, a British trained photographer known for his scenic images, arrived in Brandon at the height of this expansion. Partnering with photographer Alexander C. Davidson in 1911, Gowen produced a number of images that documented Brandon during this period of expansion. Featuring over fifty of these photographs, the exhibit will provide an overview of the city’s people, landscape, architecture and environment before World War I. With the help of local photographer Graham Street, we were able to replicate Gowen’s original images, capturing Brandon as it is in 2014. Gowen and Street’s images will be exhibited side by side to visually express the changing character of Brandon over the last century.
Over the last several months student assistant Morganna Malyon has been researching Brandon’s history and the content of the photographs. She will spend the fall months compiling this information and getting the photographs reproduced and ready for display. The exhibit is set to open early January 2015, and the photos will be hung concurrently between the Daly House Museum and the Tommy McLeod Curve Gallery on the second floor of the library at Brandon University. A documentary about the project, co-produced by Graham Street, Nate Bower and Shaun Cameron is set to be released by MTS Stories from Home at the time of the exhibit’s opening. We would like to take the time to thank the Manitoba Heritage Grant program for the generous grant made available to us. Without it this project would not have been possible. The Daly House Museum and the S.J. McKee Archives are both very excited about this project, and look forward to having it on display for the community.
The Exhibit will be displayed concurrently at the Exhibit Gallery at Daly House Museum and at the Curved Gallery at Brandon University from January 22 to April 30, 2015. There will be a free to the public opening reception on Wednesday January 21, 2015 at 7:00 pm.
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