This fun photograph, taken around 1908, shows North Vancouver photographers, Albert Elliott (bottom left) and Fred Baglow (top left), and friends eating watermelon outside their photographic studio.
It was located in a small rooftop “penthouse” atop the Junction Block, on Lonsdale and Esplanade. Both photographers were deaf and along with Elliott’s wife Evelyn (also deaf), they formed the core of a very small deaf community on the North Shore.
Elliott lost his hearing as a child and was able to read, write and used sign language but did not speak. Balgow, who lost his hearing in his teens, was able to read lips and was known as a great talker.
The Elliotts met Baglow in 1904 and by 1906 he convinced the couple to move with him to the North Shore via a brief stint in California as orange growers. Albert and Fred decided that with Albert’s photographic skills and equipment and with Fred’s conversational skills, they should go into business together as photographers.
Their photographic studio, Elliott & Baglow, was in operation from September 1906 until December 1908.
Visit the MONOVA website for more information about the history of the North Shore and to learn about MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver opening in 2021.
Currently, MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver at 3203 Institute Rd. in Lynn Valley is open by appointment only. Contact: [email protected]
Navigate culture on the North Shore by using the North Shore Culture Compass.
