First
Son, an
exhibition of portraits by photographer Chow Dong Hoy, is ultimately
a celebration of one mans indomitable will and spirited sense of
adventure. Born in Guangdong province in 1883, C.D. Hoy was only
seventeen-years-old when he immigrated to the western shores of
Canada. His journey, which was undertaken to alleviate the poverty
of his family in China, led him away from Vancouver into the
interior of British Columbia by 1905.
In
1909, after a season of limited success as a miner in Barkerville,
Hoy took up a camera and began to take portraits of other Chinese
miners who lived and worked in the town. These portraits were
printed onto postcard stock and sent back to the sitters' families
in China as a reassuring gesture of survival and possible success in
the New World. From these beginnings, Hoy's clientele grew to
include the Carrier and Chilcotin natives who lived in the interior
as well as the Caucasian people who had migrated to the area.
This
exhibition presents 81 black and white images including a number of
self-portraits. All photographs were made between 1909 and 1925. As
one of the few non-white photographers of his time, Hoy's
contribution to the demographic record is unique. The portraits
elucidate not only the faces but the clothes, the work, and the
rough-hewn materials of the frontier. In Hoy's photographs the
subjects sit front and center in their own stories and with their
own vitality. Hoy's camera captured the enduring presence of the
interior native people and the dignity of the Chinese immigrants.
The portraits are personal records meant for a private audience, and
as such, they lack the pretense of many historical photographs that
were taken of the exotic "other."
This
exhibition is accompanied by a book that includes 102 photographs, a
lengthy essay by Faith Moosang about Hoy's unique position within
the realm of historical photography in Canada, and a foreword by
author Paul Yee. The book is co-published by Presentation House
Gallery and Arsenal Pulp Press. At the close of the exhibition tour
all of the photographs will be donated to Barkerville Historic Town
which houses the Hoy negatives and has been a key partner in this
project.
First
Son: Portraits by C.D. Hoy is
curated by Faith Moosang and organized and circulated by
Presentation House Gallery. The exhibition photographs were made by
Henri Robideau. It is supported by the Government of British
Columbia through the British Columbia Heritage Trust, Barkerville
Historic Town and the Friends of Barkerville, the Hamber Foundation,
the School of Media Arts at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design
and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Opening
Reception July 29, 2000
