Between
Science and
the Sublime:
Neal Carter’s 1920s
Mountaineering Photography Albums
Neal Carter
“Unlike many alpinists, Neal was not content simply to climb every peak in sight; rather, he took time to prepare maps and guides for the areas he frequented. He even became proficient in the difficult art of preparing contoured maps from ground photography, in the day before air photographs were available.” — W.E. Ricker
Neal Carter fonds 222, Album A, 1920.
Born in Vancouver on December 14, 1902, Neal Marshall Carter started climbing in 1920 and spent the next thirty-five years mapping the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. He has been recognized as an honorary member of the Varsity Outdoor Club at UBC (1970), the Alpine Club of Canada (1974) and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
In 2014, MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver received three photography albums created by Dr. Neal Carter. The albums are beautifully illustrated and meticulously annotated with locations, names and dates. These unique archival albums are valued as historical evidence of early mountaineering activities in Western Canada, as well as personal keepsakes that embody a space between memory and imagination. Most of the photographs included in the albums were taken by Neal Carter and reveal his dual interest in visual documentation for scientific purposes, as well as celebrating the grandeur of the Coast Mountains.
Neal Carter Fonds 222, Album B, pg. 21
Curatorial Essay: Archival Photographic Albums as Cultural Objects
“It has been said that albums are valuable for people not because of the scenes and persons they depict, but because they trigger the revival of memories and promote the oral transmission of stories that strengthen the personal bonds and provide coherence to the group” (Gustavo Lozano)
At the end of the nineteenth century, archives and museums began to acquire photographic albums. Many of the first albums were scientific collections of photographic specimens and research aids for geographers, reflecting the early association of photography with scientific documentation. Neal Carter’s 1920s mountaineering photography albums are situated in the genre of scientific exploration, while incorporating elements of illustration and annotation that express the evolution of the photographic album into a chronicle of important events in our lives.
With the acquisition of photographic albums as cultural objects, archives and museums were faced with a number of challenges to preservation. The variety of media that comprise photographic albums (e.g., cover materials, bindings, pages, photographic prints, and fasteners) demand different methods of preservation. In the past, archivists and conservators were trained primarily in preserving textual records and made decisions to dismantle photographic albums, based on concerns over photographic stability, but inadvertently destroying the authenticity of the cultural object. As a result, photographs were often removed from pages, disrupting their relationship with other prints on the same page and severing ties to captions that provided identification and context.
We now recognize that photographic albums provide a curated experience – an ordered continuity, with the addition of dates, names and anecdotes carefully handwritten beneath each photograph.
The practice of album making involves selection and arrangement based on a system of classification that is filtered through individual expression. The album houses the private collection, whether it is thematic, social, or scientific. By affixing individual photographs within an album, interrelatedness is constructed, and the context of each image is transformed by its relationship within the aggregate. Each image depends on the other to tell a complete story. Although it is made up of parts, the album is valued as a unique object that should be experienced according to the intentions of its creator. It is the public “telling” of the album that transforms its private collection into a shared experience.
The photographic album’s significance as an aide-mèmoire and its value as a cultural object continues, even throughout the digital era in which social media platforms reinvent visual storytelling to support our virtual relationships. Neal Carter’s albums show a man who was inspired by the alpine environment; but they also reveal a man who loved sharing his stories with his family and friends. We are told by his family that he had infinite time for his grandchildren. Unlike a shoebox of loose photographic prints, the album tells a story and if you are fortunate, the author of the story is there to perform it, slowly turning the pages and recalling the sting of sweat in the eyes during a long climb and the sound of the alpine wind whistling past the edge of the precipice.
Jessica Bushey, PhD
Karl Ricker and Glenn Woodsworth in Conversation on Neal Carter
Local alpinists Karl Ricker and Glenn Woodsworth discuss the legacy of mountaineer Dr. Neal Carter and share their lifetime of experiences. This conversation was recorded in February 2021 and presented as part of a live event on March 24, 2021. Full Interview and Q & A
Limited In-person Viewings
Starting April 6
Starting April 6, 2021, the public is invited to view the Neal Carter exhibition at the Archives of North Vancouver in Lynn Valley by booking a 30-minute appointment. Following COVID-19 protocols, appointments must be booked 2 days in advance, Monday through Friday. Masks are required during your visit.
Please email your request for a visit to: archives@monova.ca
This exhibition is part of the Capture Photography Festival 2021 Selected Exhibition Program.
This exhibition is supported in part by the BC Mountain Foundation and the Government of Canada.
