14
"The Oat Field" represents the beginning in 1898, of Macnamara's successful use of photography as an artistic means of expression.15
Photography MagazineDecember, 1905
16
The December 1905 issue of Photography Magazine contains an article about gum bi-chromate printing. Two years later, Charles described his own modified method of the multiple gum-bichromate process at the request of the Library of Congress. 1905 was the first year that Macnamara exhibited three gum bichromate prints at the Ottawa Photographic Art Club. Five years earlier he had written to the J. Woolnough of the Toronto Camera Club about rules for their 10th annual exhibit but he didn't send in any entries. In 1905, he pointed out in correspondence to H. Mortimer-Lamb (Photograms of The Year 1905) that the "results in gum printing are uncertain and every satisfactory print represents a great deal of work". Mortimer-Lamb had singled out Charles' ability to capture "a pictorial idea happily conceived and more or less successfully executed", from other members of the Ottawa Photographic Art Club that year. He was critical of the work submitted by the Ottawa and Montreal clubs except for Macnamara's work. He stated that, "A picture is not a picture if it does not possess that indefinable subtle something, called feeling or sentiment, and suggestive of the individuality of the artist."17
The Pine Branch1908
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada
18
By 1908, Charles Macnamara was experimenting with minimalism and asymmetry. Merry Foresta of the National Museum of American Art, defined the qualities of pictorialism in an interview for a television program about American Photography, "The pictorialist photographs looked like art, quite literally. They looked like paintings. They looked like drawings. They looked like beautiful, rich prints. They were meant to have chiaroscuro, they were meant to have darkness, they were meant to have a kind of sketchiness"."The Pine Branch" is a beautifully executed gum print on heavily textured paper that perfectly matches her description of pictorialist photography. In 1909, "The Pine Branch" was exhibited in Ottawa followed by Montreal in 1910.
19
The Creek1909
Dochert Creek, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada
20
"The Dochert Creek" also known as "The Creek", was photographed in 1909 but not exhibited until 1917. The red dot which appears on this small reference print probably means that a larger print was sold by Macnamara.21
Abandoned HutMarch, 1909
Marshalls Bay, Ontario, Canada
22
Pictorialist photography differed from commercial photography in that the photographer was engaged in a process that went beyond accurate or scientific reproduction to create atmospheric, dramatic works of art. "The Abandoned Hut" was exhibited as "The Hut in the Forest" in 1912.23
Dan McLachlin, Armond Burwash and Dr. F. T. ShuttJuly, 1909
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada
24
Charles Macnamara went on photographic excursions with his friends Armond Burwash (an Arnprior naturalist), Dan McLachlin (Macnamara's employer) and Dr. F. T. Shutt. Dan McLachlin entered two bromide prints in the Photography Art Club of Ottawa's exhibition in 1911 when Macnamara was president. Other photographs taken on this July day include shots of the party shooting a broad set of rapids in this pointer boat.25
Dr. Shutt taking photographJuly, 1909
Arnprior, Ontario, Canada
26
Dr. F. T. Shutt was Vice-President of the Photography Art Club of Ottawa the year that this photograph was taken. Photography clubs promoted awareness of photography as a legitimate art form through exhibitions, lectures, outings and discourse among its members.27
Dr. F. T. Shutt1909
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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