Moodie glass negatives

The Fisher Library is highlighting yet-another unique collection in its latest series of photographs to uploaded to its Flickr site. The Geraldine Moodie Glass Negatives of Plants is a set that showcases the negatives taken by Moodie in the Hudson's Bay area in the early 20th century. The slides, almost 50 in total and from the Agnes Chamberlin Papers, feature a number of different plants. The negatives were meant to be enlarged and coloured at a later date.

Geraldine Moodie was born on October 31, 1854. She was the granddaughter of celebrated Canadian author Susanna Moodie, and daughter of Agnes Chamberlin, nature artist and author of several books on Canadian flora. She began her creative life as a painter, and exhibited some of her works with those of her mother at the Colonial Exhibition in London, England. She later took up photography, building her own studio in North Battleford. She was celebrated for her photographs of Aboriginal people, members of the R.C.M.P., and ranching operations. She later opened two other photographic studios before moving North with her husband, where she photographed first nations people and flora.

Captions for the images are transcribed from Moodie’s notes on the negative sleeves (when available).

The set can be found by clicking on this link.

A digital collection of her mother's paintings of wildflowers is available by clicking here.

This set of photographs complements the current exhibition running at the Fisher, How Does MY Garden Grow: The Education of a Gardener. The exhibit runs through the summer. Highlights of the exhibit can be found on the Fisher's YouTube channel.