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Hannah Maynard’s Legacy

Hannah Maynard was a Canadian photographer famous for experimenting with new camera techniques and mastering skills of photomontages. An important part of British Columbia’s heritage especially in Victoria B.C, she is credited for opening the first photography store in Victoria. Hannah was born in Bude, Cornwall in 1834, and immigrated to Canada in 1852 with her husband Richard Maynard.

Hannah most impressive feat is learning photography through experimentation and trial and error. In a time where camera’s had minimal functions and needed multiple tools to take proper photos, Hannah was able to master them through practice in her store. Using techniques such as time-lapse imaging, double exposures, multiple exposures, lighting and photomontages, her curiosity and passion continuously pushed her to learn different techniques that are evident in her pictures today. Hannah began by taking simple landscape photos with Richard, but slowly moved towards portrait photos. In her collection “Gems of BC” she was able to take roughly 22,000 portraits of children within Victoria. Hannah soon mastered the art of “cut and paste” by cropping the faces of each portrait and pasting them on a separate sheet creating small postcards for people. Hannah furthered her photomontages by adding faces inside sunflower heads, forming a water fountain using portrait photos, and even creating the leaves of a plant using faces. Hannah later moved on to multiple exposures, combining multiple shots into one image. Hannah utilized this by taking pictures of herself in different positions to create an illusion to the audience. Through these multiple techniques, it is possible to gauge how Hannah has evolved and grown throughout her years of being a photographer. From moving from simple landscapes to intricate multiple exposures including herself as a subject.

Through Hannah’s curiosity and devotion to photography, she has been able to change the culture in Victoria through her photomontages, and pushing boundaries of photography using multiple exposures. Hannah has been able to document the progress of Victoria through her “Gems of BC” collection which plays an integral part in developing Victoria into the city it is today. Ultimately, Hannah’s passion for experimentation has created many opportunities for people in Victoria to witness emerging photographic techniques.

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