Review by Gavin Taylor
Website Presented by The McCord Museum
Viewed: February 14, 2003

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Site overview: "Urban Life through Two Lenses" has a simple premise. In the last half of the nineteenth century, Montreal photographer William Notman took hundreds of photos of city landmarks, from the bustling port on the St. Lawrence River to the summit of Mount Royal Park. Over a century later, photographer Andrzej Maciejewski set out to photograph the same compositions, at the identical time and day of the year. Drawing inspiration from "rephotographic" projects of Mark Klett, Maciejewski collaborated with the McCord Museum of Canadian History in creating a graphic document of Montreal's changes over the past hundred years.

Since it was established in 1921, the McCord has been a leading research museum for Canadian history. Affiliated with McGill University, it has a collection of over a million objects, manuscripts and images relating to Canada's social history. One of the jewels of its holdings is the over 450,000 photographs taken by the Montreal based Notman studio between the 1840s and 1935, along with about 600,000 photographs from other sources, one of the largest such collections in the country.

Urban Life through Two Lenses presents 34 pairs of photographs taken by Notman and Maciejewski, using the pictures to illustrate various aspects of Montreal life at the turn of last century. The paired photos are the centerpieces of the exhibit: visitors can enlarge them, compare them, view them consecutively, or rapidly scan them in sequence. Each pair is fully annotated. A historian places Notman's original photograph in context and provides examples of similar photos from the same period. A museologist links the photos to artifacts to illustrate various aspects of life in Montreal during the latter third of the 19th century. Finally, a photographer's section includes maps of the places where the picture were taken, adding technical notes about the challenges of "rephotographing" Notman's work.

Scope/Content: By comparing historical and contemporary photographs, this site attempts nothing less than to trace the evolution of Montreal over the past century. The curators of the site make their aims explicit in their introduction, which outlines the exhibit from the perspectives of the historian, the museologist, and the photographer. Historians Joanne Burgess and Gilles Lauzon explain that, while the photographs are "windows through time," they were tinted by the prejudices of Notman's wealthy Anglo-Protestant clientele. Burgess and Lauzon use the photographs as a platform to discuss the world of Montreal's nineteenth-century Anglophone elite. They argue that his photographs reflect the sensibilities of one of his typical customers - a tourist from Victorian Britain, for example.

Museologist Nicole Vallières treats the photographs as snapshots of everyday life, and links them with historical artifacts in the McCord's collection, explaining that the site adopts a "Keys to History" approach, viewing objects in terms of their function, time, place, and range of social meanings. The exhibit is intended to provoke thought, not offer answers, she writes: "Each key leads to different avenues for investigation, which -- far from being exclusive -- can be structured to define a new outlook, establish connections, broaden the scope of our knowledge."

Finally, Maciejewski discusses what the project meant to him as a photographer, describing attempts to reproduce Notman's angles and shadows as "a mystical experience, akin to time travel," adding that he hopes visitors to the site will share this feeling. The site meets all these goals, although the volume of material can be overwhelming. Along with the thirty-four paired photographs, hundreds of other objects, prints, photographs and paintings are presented; each annotated and explained. Most visitors will only be able to sample them, as it is virtually impossible to complete an exhaustive reading of all its materials. In this sense, the exhibit uses the technical capacities of the Web to mount an exhibit hardly possible in a bricks-and-mortar museum.

It allows readers to create their own exhibit by following different paths of exploration. No two visitors will share the same experience. Someone looking through the photos might focus on a picture of Montreal harbour. She might be intrigued by one of the historical images on the bottom left of the screen--say, an 1884 picture of an adjoining street. The text, which explains both photographic methods and provides some historical detail, interests her--so she goes to the Museologist section, and finds more information. She clicks on the picture of a barrel, and a pop-up box tells her more about the artifact and the central role of barrels as carriers of nineteenth-century international trade. She wants to find out more about containers, so she clicks the "Search" function on the main page, and probes the McCord's collections for items that include the word "barrel": about a dozen hits. This wending tour through the museum's collections could continue indefinitely, until she satisfied her curiosity on virtually every subject.

The site is well written and intended for a wide audience. (It was originally written in French, but the English translation is impeccable.) A couple of sections are designed for students, with pop-up windows that explain such phenomena as the history of snow removal in Canada. The site will mainly attract Montrealers, although anyone interested in the social history of nineteenth-century Canada is bound to find something of interest.

Authority/Bias: The site's "Credits" window lists all the people and organizations responsible for its financing, research and design. The site designers received support from the federal government (Heritage Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts), consulted with professors from l'Université de Montreal as well as McGill; and tested the site with a high school teacher and his students in Quebec. With the institutional backing of the McCord Museum, it has greater authority than most privately sponsored Web sites. A feedback section allows viewers to rate different aspects of the exhibit and offer comments to its authors, but lists neither e-mail nor snail-mail addresses for the curators, historians, or photographer. Inquiries need to be directed through the McCord's main office or through the feedback section.

The exhibit, as Vallières states in her introduction, is not intended to advance an agenda but to raise questions. For the most part, the text merely explains the photographs and the artifacts, giving details about their history and context. No single story is told--viewers must piece together a narrative by exploring different parts of the site. Yet it is clearly well grounded in academic research: each page is thickly annotated with references to books, articles, theses, and artifacts.

Timeliness/Permanence: The exhibit was mounted in the fall of 2001, so remains timely. There is no indication of subsequent revisions, although little evidence any are needed. All the links appear to be in working order. Given that the site is not linked to a particular celebratory occasion, it ought to remain relevant indefinitely. The McCord would be remiss if it did not keep updating the site, which is a remarkable introduction to its collections.

Value Added Features: There is no shortage of bells and whistles on this site. It uses text, images, and sound--every photo is accompanied by street noises appropriate to its time and place. Ample use of Flash graphics makes it possible to enlarge photos, superimpose them, view them in 3-D, and play interactive games (e.g., one feature allows visitors to look for anachronisms in photos, another tests their knowledge of Montreal's history). There is even a 1902 movie of skiers in Quebec, borrowed from the Library of Congress. Viewers can review the photos using a carousel that displays them rapidly in sequence. The only search function is for the McCord's collections as a whole, which gives visitors access to a large volume of materials but also generates many irrelevant hits. There are no separate sections for links, but each photo is accompanied by a list of references to historical sources, including some that are on-line.

Technical Aspects: The technical strengths of this site may also prove one of its weaknesses. It's impossible to access the site without a Flash plug-in, and users with only a dial-up modem will have to cool their heels for minutes on end as they wait for images to load. The site is compatible with both Explorer and Navigator, but works best with the latest versions. Navigation is also difficult, because the site has only one page with a single URL. Most of the features involve pop-up boxes, but to get from one photo to another, you must either use the "back" and "forward" buttons, or try the carousel function. The photos are eminently printable, and can also be sent as postcards. The same is true of other images and objects displayed on the site.

Aesthetics/Visual Clarity and Appeal: Aesthetically, the site is a wonder: bold graphics, clear text and a consistent theme. The Flash introduction is impressive, and the site manages to convey a wealth of information without seeming cluttered. The thumbnails in the Museologist section show only portions of the objects on display--which makes them more visually intriguing. On the whole, the entire site is a treat for the eyes.

Overall Impression of the Site: This is an original, polished site, making full use of available Web technology and its visual capabilities. It also brings a wide range of artifacts and a substantial swath of social history to the public's attention. Yet there may be something missing: while it is technically accomplished, the exhibit is emotionally sterile. The images are expertly interpreted and the photographs are marvelous to behold, but there is no compelling narrative to draw visitors into the site. Although the photos and objects tell us a great deal about Montreal in the late nineteenth century, there are relatively few distinguishable human faces. (Frances Monck, daughter of the Confederation era Governor General, whose diary is cited frequently, is the one exception; but we see her through her observations about places and other people, not in her own emotional world.) There are some suggestions of human qualities in the photos--one remarkable pair matches a group of contemporary joggers on Mount Royal Park with a gaggle of Victorian women, all decked out in their Sunday best. But the site needs to tell a more compelling story about how the lives of ordinary Montrealers have changed over the past century. Very often, it seems that the site is as much about technique--whether photographic, historical, or museological--as it is about history.

Interpretation of Materials: This is an unusual exhibit in that half of the major artifacts--the photos taken by Maciejewski--were produced specifically for the exhibit itself. But it uses the occasion to introduce visitors to a wide range of materials relating to Victorian Montreal. Materials are interpreted brilliantly: the authors manage to tease valuable nuggets of information out of seemingly mundane images and objects. A certificate for a shipment of wheat becomes a pivot for a discussion of Montreal's economic relationship with the West at the turn of the last century; a photograph of the St. Lawrence River is used to explore Montreal's system of aqueducts and water usage.

Burgess and Lauzon, both specialists in Victorian Montreal, bring their expertise to the photos. Any visitor can readily see how much Montreal has changed in the century between the two sets of photos, but the historians point out fine details that may be lost to the untutored eye. They have used both primary and secondary materials and are thoroughly familiar with the vast scholarly literature on late 19th century Montreal, which has been something of an industry in itself over the past quarter century. They present their expertise in an accessible way; the text is lively and could interest high school students.

The museological sections are both imaginative and informative. With all of the McCord's collections at their disposal, the authors selected visually interesting and socially significant objects. A ceramic heart with an arrow through it, for example, is a springboard for a discussion of religious ritual among Montreal Catholics at the turn of the last century. The authors classify each object from four perspectives--what, where, when, and who--and readily admit that their interpretation of the objects is partial and somewhat subjective. Yet viewers have an opportunity to look at the objects themselves, and the site includes complete catalogue information for every artifact.

Just as compelling are Maciejewski's discussions of his photographs. He writes about technical difficulties of reproducing Notman's perspectives--he had to find familiar landmarks in utterly unfamiliar landscapes, while waiting until the shadows were exactly right before snapping each shot. He also discusses the environment in which photos were taken: whether people stared at the photographer (common in Notman's case, rare for Maciejewski), and how buildings and landscapes had changed. His comments move beyond discussions of photographic method into questions of history.

So the site draws from a wealth of experience in the historical, curatorial and photographic fields. And yet the end result is less than the sum of its parts. Because the information about photographs and artifacts is broken into individual parts, our understanding of nineteenth-century Montreal is fractured. There is no single narrative or interpretive thrust that makes the site cohere; it is instead a loose network of information nuggets (to mix a metaphor). Admittedly, this may be a reflection of the Web's limitations (and strengths) as a medium, and visitors should adjust their expectations accordingly. Anyone looking for a concise explanation of how daily life in Montreal has changed over the past century would be tantalized yet frustrated by this site.

Primary Source Documents: Primary documents are the foreground of this site, and they are presented and referenced well. With a few exceptions, the materials are housed at the McCord itself and are therefore easy to locate. It is possible to search all the materials, as well as other objects and photographs at the McCord, using the museum's search engine. All primary documents cited have complete references, including catalogue numbers. The site does not explain how photographs were digitized, nor does it provide detailed copyright information. It might have benefited from lengthier selections from textual materials such as Frances Monck's diary. For instance, many erudite visitors recorded their impressions of Montreal in the nineteenth century. Comments by such travelers as Mark Twain or Charles Dickens might have enlivened the site for visitors. At the very least, the site might have provided links to these materials. Other primary source materials--property deeds, blueprints of buildings, historical maps, and so on--would also help viewers form a fuller picture of life in Montreal. Without a single links page, we are forced to piece together scattershot references to outside works by ourselves.

Education/Outreach: The site offers some opportunities for educators, including several interactive sections and two slide shows designed specifically for students. As it is a site sponsored by the McCord, it is easily accessible and well known to the public. No attempt is made to treat the site as curriculum--it is not linear enough to do so--but young people are intended to see and use the exhibit. There does not, however, seem to be any concerted effort to bring the material on the site to the classroom. Neither school boards nor the department of education are listed as promoters of the site.

Promotion of a Community of Interest: While the site is interactive, it has few "aortals," or portals that would facilitate discussion or engagement by the community at large. Visitors can rate the site (largely on its technical merits) and provide feedback to the authors, but there is no place on the site where visitors can start a conversation of their own. No listservs or conferences appear to be connected with the site. This lack of community outreach is a pity, since a good deal of popular interest in historical photographs is apparent in the population. People are naturally curious about places where they work and live, and would likely have a great deal to add about the landmarks photographed by Notman and Maciejewski if they were given a chance.

It might have been interesting to create a space where people could share their own photographs, stories, or family histories--and build a collective social history of the city. As it is, the expertise on the site flows in one direction, from the authors to the visitors. But surely visitors have some expertise of their own--of how places have changed, how people have changed, and how the city has developed over the past century. While the authors say they want visitors to interpret history for themselves, they do little to involve the public in teasing new meaning out of the photographs and artifacts. If public history is to be truly public--that is, a popular effort to understand and interpret the past--it must involve the audience to a greater degree than this exhibit.

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Gavin Taylor has a Ph.D. in American history from the College of William and Mary. He will complete a Master's degree in Journalism at Carleton University in the spring of 2003 and will be working for the Toronto Star this summer.