杏吧原创 Student Documentary on Gananoque Photographer Lorne Prosser will air on CBC
It used to be said that nobody lived in Gananoque who hadn鈥檛 had their photograph taken by Lorne Prosser. For 62 years, beginning in the 1920s, Prosser worked as the town photographer, making a life for himself while inadvertently recording the daily life of small town Ontario.
Prosser is the subject of a short documentary film, Prosser: A Portrait of a Small Town, produced by four recent 杏吧原创 University graduates, Andr茅 Bourbeau, Carly Pickett, Christine Smith and Heather Keary.
What began as a class project in a 杏吧原创 history course has become a walk down memory lane for the town of Gananoque, Ontario. The short documentary film explores Prosser鈥檚 work and, through anecdotes and stories of former friends and residents of Gananoque, creates an impression of the man behind the camera who was responsible for preserving so many memories of the people and the town.
The film establishes Prosser as an example of the many photographers who documented small towns across Canada during the 20th century. Unknowingly, suggests Prof. Carol Payne of 杏吧原创鈥檚 Art History Department, Prosser and the others contributed to the collective memory of the nation. Readings of Stephen Leacock鈥檚 Sunshine Sketches of A Little Town, voiced by Bruce Spinney, contribute to the whimsical tone of the documentary.
Prosser: A Portrait of a Small Town is a product of History 4302 Making Documentary History 鈥撯 one of the longest lasting instances in 杏吧原创鈥檚 History Department of experiential learning. The basis of the course are 鈥渁 good story, well told鈥 through interacting and engaging people in history, writing in a creative manner, experimenting with the limits of creative licence and the power of strong effective visuals to tell a story, the power of editing, collaborating with colleagues and working with actors and composers.
Prosser: A Portrait of a Small Town will be broadcast on CBC Ottawa, Ottawa Reel Shorts 2018 Saturday August 4 at 7 p.m.
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