Gauvin & Gentzel

Gauvin & Gentzel
IndustryPhotography, film
Founded1892
FounderAdolphe E. Gentzel, George A. Gauvin

Gauvin & Gentzel was a Canadian photography company established in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

History

The firm of Gauvin & Gentzel, specializing in commercial photography, was established by the early 1890s in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1] Adolphe E. Gentzel and George Alfred Gauvin, amateur photographers and founding members of the Halifax Camera Club, formed the partnership.[2] Their photographic studio, known as the Elite Studio, was located at 18 Spring Garden.[3][4]

At the 1894 Nova Scotia Agricultural Exhibition and Industrial Fair (Sept. 25–29), their Elite Studio display was praised for its artistry and received a special award.[5]

In 1896, Gauvin & Gentzel photographed James Wilberforce Longley, Attorney General of Nova Scotia.[6] Throughout 1897, they expanded and renovated the Elite Studio to accommodate new photographic methods and styles. In December 1897, the studio purchased the sole right to produce bas-relief photographs in Halifax.[7]

In 1901, they documented a detachment of New Brunswick recruits under Lieut. C. W. W. McLean for the South African Constabulary.[8] Sir Charles Tupper's photo was taken in 1902.[9] The studio also photographed Canadian author Margaret Marshall Saunders throughout the 1900s.[10]

Relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1905, A.E. Gentzel maintained the business under the name "Gauvin Gentzel".[11] The Halifax branch remained in operation for several decades under G.A. Gauvin.

The portrait studio took a photo of the Archbishop of Halifax, Edward Joseph McCarthy, on 2 April 1908.[12] Albert Audley Thompson's photo was taken by the Halifax studio in 1910.[13] During the summer of 1912 in Winnipeg, Gauvin, Gentzel, & Co. photographed the officers of the Winnipeg Rotary Club.[14] The Nova Scotia photographers attended the unveiling of the Halifax Memorial Tower on 14 August 1912.[15] Gauvin & Gentzel later employed Wallace R. MacAskill as a printer for their Elite Studio in 1916. He worked there until 1919 and photographed the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion.[16] A photograph of Canadian diplomat Charles Jost Burchell was taken by the Gauvin & Gentzel firm in 1925.[17]

A department for amateur developing, printing, and enlarging was opened at the Halifax studio in May 1924.[18]

George Gauvin, the head of the firm, died on 18 July 1933.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Gauvin and Gentzel (fl. 1912) (photographers)". archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  2. ↑ "Authority Record: Gauvin & Gentzel". findingaids.library.dal.ca. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  3. ↑ Fingard, Judith; Guildford, Janet; Sutherland, David (1999). Halifax: The First 250 Years. Formac Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-88780-490-8. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  4. ↑ "Annual Report of the Several Departments of the Civic Government of Halifax, Nova Scotia for the Civic Year 1897-8". books.google.ca. 1898. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  5. ↑ "The Exhibition Closed". The Halifax Herald. September 29, 1894. p. 8.
  6. ↑ "Munsey's Magazine for April to September, 1896". books.google.ca. 1896. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  7. ↑ "Bas Relief Photographs". The Evening Mail. December 3, 1897. p. 5.
  8. ↑ "Navy & Army Illustrated, Volume 12". books.google.ca. 1901. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  9. ↑ "Sir Charles And Lady Tupper". The Halifax Herald. April 7, 1902. p. 6.
  10. ↑ "Famous People By Fannie M. Lothrop". The Dayton Herald. September 3, 1908. p. 8.
  11. ↑ "Manitoba Photographers: George Alfred Gauvin (1863-1933)". mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  12. ↑ Canada (1908). "The Canada Gazette". books.google.ca. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  13. ↑ "Gauvin & Gentzel Nova Scotia Archives no. 47: A.A. Thompson". archives.novascotia.ca. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  14. ↑ "The Rotarian, Vol. 2, No. 8". books.google.ca. 1912. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  15. ↑ "Unveiling of the Halifax Memorial Tower, 1912". archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk. 1912. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  16. ↑ "Nova Scotia Archives: W.R. MacAskill". archives.novascotia.ca. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  17. ↑ "Gauvin & Gentzel Nova Scotia Archives no. 41: C.J. Burchell". archives.novascotia.ca. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  18. ↑ "Services Offered". The Evening Mail. May 31, 1924. p. 15.
  19. ↑ "George A. Gauvin". The Burlington Free Press. July 19, 1933. p. 8.
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