In March 2019 the Archives started preparing for an exhibition on prominent North Vancouver photographer, Jack Cash. He was born in 1918 to Gwen Cash, the first woman general reporter in Canada, and had big shoes to fill. Instead of words, Jack used images to tell stories.

The archival photographs, logbooks, cameras, and ephemera included in the Jack Cash exhibition are part of a larger donation to the Archives by Cash’s son, Derek Cash. The Archives has worked closely with Derek Cash to prepare the exhibit at the Community History Centre in Lynn Valley.

In March 2020, the temporary closure of the Archives presented an opportunity to digitize parts of the exhibition and launch it online! We are excited to expand the reach of this exhibition and to have it included as part of the Capture Festival online events.

By the late 1930s Jack Cash was selling his photographs to the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun. Many of the iconic images of ships launching from Burrard Dry Docks during World War II were taken by the young Jack Cash. Officially, Jack was a pipefitters assistant, but he quickly gained attention as a proper photographer when his images appeared in the monthly company newsletter, the Wallace Shipbuilder.

Following the end of the war, Cash continued as a freelance photographer for the shipyards but eventually established his own photographic studio, opening Jack Cash Studios Ltd. at 1629 Marine Drive in 1956. Jack Cash became a recognized name as a commercial photographer in British Columbia. His talent and dedication were evident inside the studio and outside on the road. Using his car as a shooting platform, Cash travelled extensively throughout British Columbia, working for a wide-range of clients, such as MacMillan Bloedel and Western Living Magazine.He kept meticulous track of all his shooting assignments in his log book, which is now preserved at the Archives in North Vancouver.

In preparing the Jack Cash exhibition, the Archives team included Sam Fredericks, who joined the NVMA for 6-months as a Young Canada Works, Building Careers in Heritage Intern. In addition to processing the donation of archival materials, Sam arranged and described the photographs, business records and ephemera so that they can be accessed online through the Archives database here:https://eloquent.dnv.org/nvma/permalink.html?key=26375

We are looking forward to providing access to the exhibition at the CHC when the closure ends. In fact, Hamish Watt, our Archives Volunteer just completed installing mounts in the Reference Room at the CHC.

Until then, enjoy the online exhibition here: THROUGH THE LENS OF JACK CASH:1939-1970

Read the latest review of the exhibition by North Shore News reporter, Jeremy Shepherd here: Historical exhibit features the photos of one of North Van’s chroniclers

by Jessica Bushey