Greg had plenty of anecdotes to accompany his slide
presentation, as well as beautiful banner-sized montages with groupings:
celebrities from all fields, statesmen and women, places, accidents and
those who put the Ottawa Citizen together, right down to fresh-faced
newsboys.
Besides capturing news as it happened, generations
of just plain folks were immortalized for posterity in portraits by
Newman--possibly you, or your relatives, can be found smiling over that very
studio logo?
Perhaps as many as a half-million images from Newton
Photographic (along with later partnerships: Andrews- Hunt and
Andrews-Newton Photography) have been donated to the City Archives,
preserving a wonderful record of life in the region from the 1940's to
recent times.
The Q&A period included some discussion of the history of
photography, film versus digital imaging, the challenges of long
term-storage and methods of organization for larger collections. Greg
continues in the business.
Remember “Photo by Newton”?
The guest speaker for the May meeting of RTHS was Ottawa
photographer, Greg Newton, son of photographer and city councillor Bill Newton.
Greg presented photos of their work with the Ottawa Citizen during the last 50
years.
Once again a speaker from our own ranks proved that RTHS
members lead very interesting lives. Greg Newton shared the dynamic world of
photography with an appreciative audience at last month's meeting at Knox
Presbyterian Church in Manotick.
Greg was born to the life and eventually took over the family
business, in 1977. His parents Bill and Jean Newton founded the studio in 1940,
running it out of their home on Wilbrod Street, while raising their four
children. No pocket-sized, mega-pixel marvels of technology back then! The
working couple had to contend with heavy equipment and white-hot, single-use
flash bulbs.
With a contract to supply the Ottawa Citizen with news photos,
at its peak in the 1950's, and to continue the core business of commercial and
portrait photography Newman Studios maintained a staff of 20 photographers and
technicians. Over its life the studio has chronicled events ranging from
historic to the ordinary, thus preserving a view of Ottawa that jogs memories
and recalls the attitudes and hopes of its people.
In 1974 Andy Andrews & Greg Newton formed a partnership to
become Andrews- Newton Photographers Ltd. Andrews- Newton Photography continued
as a full service photographic business specializing in portrait & commercial
photography. They worked out of studios on Sparks St. and O'Connor St. until
1994 when Andy retired.
Visit the Newton web site for more information on the
company and for contact information. It’s a very nice site.
