The Ernest Brown Photography Studio was originally built by C.W.
Mathers in 1897, prior to meeting Ernest Brown and hiring him as
his manager. Six months after Ernest and his wife Molly arrived in
Edmonton, Mathers sold him his portrait business for $7350.00
Early on, Brown's business was a dry plate photography studio.
The services offered at his studio included photo engraving and
framing, reproduction, tin types, group and individual portraits,
lantern slides, and bromide enlargements. Eventually, it included
prints from his view collections.
Brown's business thrived for ten years. He incorporated the
business, hired several employees to work in his studio and
renovated the establishment itself to keep it modern. The
prosperity of the studio resulted in Brown's decision that the
business had outgrown the building; in 1911, he began construction
on The Brown Block. The new building was built in two phases. When
it was completed, it not only contained a studio, but included a
photographic supply shop, apartments and office spaces for rent.
This new, larger studio was much better suited to the speed at
which Brown's business was expanding.
Despite The Ernest Brown Photography Studio's success, they were
not impermeable to the economic hardships of WWI. Photography was
considered a luxury item and, as such, a service that few were able
to afford during this time period. In the 1920s, the building and
its contents were repossessed. Ernest Brown was left with nothing
but the photo negatives that he had purchased from C.W. Mathers at
the beginning of his venture. Despite this, Brown continued to
engage in photography until his death in 1951.
In 1982, Fort Edmonton Park recreated this building... based on
its 1907 configuration, prior to the building of the Brown
Block.
Tom's Quick facts:
- The Brown Block still stands today on Jasper Ave just east of
97th street with a breathtaking view of the Rivey Valley. There is
talk of using it as the centre of a new Ukrainian cultural centre
and archives.
- Brown displayed many of the artifacts and photographs he had
amassed. He is responsible for some of the first museum displays of
Western Canadian history.
- Brown's collection of artifacts and photographs are a major
part of, and in some cases, the basis of the collections of the
Royal Alberta Museum, Municipal and Provincial archives, and the
Glenbow Museum. Fort Edmonton Park uses his archived photos
extensively when doing historical research for buildings and
programs.
- Gladys Reeves started out as Brown's pre-teen assistant and
later became a celebrated photographer and artist in her own right
- one of the first in Western Canada and the first to run her own
portrait studio west of Winnipeg.
- Gladys Reeves related at one point that Ernest Brown said he
came to Edmonton "with a wife, a big trunk and a $5 bill" in 1903.
A few years later and he owned and operated Edmonton's premiere
portrait studio.