First Son

HoI'photography exhibit months bcforc secing it.CBC Radio was intcrvicwing the cxhibition's curator in thc spring, and it \vas August by thc timc I was next in the Outaouais area able to visit the Museum of Civilization.The curator, Faith Moosang, spoke lively about C. D. Hoy, rcvcaling hcr excitemcnt over the photographs and her ability to present thcm to Canadians.Hoy, who emigrated from China in the carly 1900s at the age ofscvcnteen.was a local merchant and the first professional portrait photographer in post gold rush interior British Columbia.He came to Canada because, as the firstborn son of his poor family, he had to find a way to support them.The way in which the curator spoke about the exhibit, her descriptions of thc honcsty and simplicity of Hoy's imagcs, and thc hardships and pcrseverancc of bcing a photographcr at that timc. in that contcxt.pcaked my curiosity.Yct, I fclt unfulfillcd aftcr going to the cxhibit.It was not Hoy's imagcs that madc me fccl this way: his images arc rich and fascinating.Rathcr it was the coldncss and simplicity ofthc display in gencral that left mc wanting morc.What initially bothcrcd mc was the location of the exhibit decp in thc bowels of thc muscum.The Muscum of Civilization was not the original vcnue for thc exhibition, and its final home will bc in Hoy's community of Barkcrville, British Columbia.Howcvcr. the fact that this museum is accustomcd 10 travclling cxhibits, I cxpected bcttcr visibility and directions.It took Illy husband and I a lengthy bout of confused Illaze walking bcfore we finally found a poster about thc exhibit (this was the first advcrtiscment we had come across in thc muscum about thc display, and it was hiddcn bchind somc cscalators).The arrow on the postcr further led us along twisting corridors and (bamingly) cmpty rooms bcforc scttling us at our dcstination.Thc imagcs wcrc housed in a roolll that was largc and bright cnough to

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Civilization · Geography · Hull · Portrait · Canadian Identity and History · Engineering · French Historical and Cultural Studies · History