Written by Danka Davidovic –
Born in 1880, Léopold Hurtubise was only 20 years old when he bought his “Premo” folding box camera. Despite being a medical student at the time, Léopold was serious about his photography and spent the equivalent of $4,365 on what was, at that time, a state-of-the-art camera. Over a century later, the CHQ still has both his camera and roughly 300 glass negatives he produced with it.
Glass negatives consist of a light-sensitive chemical solution applied to a glass plate, which would then be exposed to light through the camera’s lens, creating an image. These images are called negatives because the image produced was the opposite of the positive image that the human eye sees, with regards to the inversion of light and dark (A Brief History of Glass Plate Photography, n.d.). These glass negatives that Léopold produced offer an invaluable depiction of the middle-class experience that went on to define the city’s history and politics for the rest of the 20th century. These photographs depict a variety of subjects, including notable events in Montreal and the doctor’s family and friends.
But, it wasn’t until 2019 that these glass negatives were actually discovered. The heavy case in which the glass negatives were stored was tucked away in a dusty but well-protected corner of Hurtubise House.
The archivist at the time, Laura Estévez-Vásquez, and CHQ Executive Director Jacques Archambault opened the case to find small cardboard boxes, containing glass negatives carefully packed in folders.
Many even have Léopold’s own handwritten notes on them!
Thanks to Léopold’s family and the CHQ’s efforts to preserve and protect all of these negatives, we have the opportunity to see the world as he saw it back in the early 1900s. Come to Hurtubise House this summer to see this exciting special exhibition, on display from June to September 2023. By appointment only, please email: coord@hcq-chq.org. For a PDF preview of some of the items on display, click here!
Source:
- A Brief History of Glass Plate Photography. (n.d.). Texas State University Archives. https://exhibits.library.txstate.edu/univarchives/exhibits/show/cen-tex-glass-plates/mystery-deliv/glass-plate-negs
