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Biography: Byron Hill Harmon,
1876-1942
Byron Harmon,
1927
(WMCR-V263/NA-4153) |
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Byron Harmon was born near Tacoma, Washington, USA in 1876. His
love of photography and gift for invention emerged during his
teenage years. During this period, Eastman Kodak marketed its
first roll film and, with the aim of reaching a broad audience,
designed cameras that could be used with little
training. Initially Harmon could not afford one of these
cameras so he built his own. His first instrument was a
hand-made pinhole camera. | In the
mid 1890s, Harmon opened his first portrait studio. By the late 1890s he
was ready for a change. Packing up his photographic equipment, he began a
journey that would take him around the United States and Canada,
eventually leading him to Banff, N.W.T., Canada, now in the Province of
Alberta.
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Harmon discovered that Banff was full of photographic
opportunities, yet did not have a permanent photography
studio. The potential for photography, together with
magnificent scenery and health benefits of living in the mountains,
appealed greatly to Harmon. He decided to settle in the town of
Banff in the famed Canadian Rockies.
Claiming he would rather photograph mountains
than people, Harmon launched a life ambition to photograph every
major peak and glacier in the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains in as many
moods as |
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Byron Harmon
residence, Banff, [before
1942] (WMCR-V263/NA-4186) | possible.
In this pursuit, he became an avid mountaineer. In 1906 he became a
charter member and official photographer for the Alpine Club of
Canada. Harmon organized and accompanied numerous expeditions, both
with the ACC and independently. These expeditions were ground-breaking and
daring, and resulted in thousands of still photographs and considerable
motion picture footage, as well as prestige and international
recognition.
Harmony Drug Store, Banff, ca.1920
(WMCR-V263/NA-4215) |
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Byron Harmon’s pursuits did not pertain solely to photography and
film-making. His entrepreneurial ventures were numerous and
over time included a photographic studio, theatre, drugstore and
tearoom, as well as a variety of publications in the form of
viewbooks, calendars and postcards. Harmon built a large home
overlooking the town, raised a family, and was a prominent community
member. |
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In his later years, Harmon
continued his adventurous lifestyle, travelling and photographing around the
world. He passed away in 1942 at the
age of sixty-six. The Whyte Museum of
the Canadian Rockies, Archives and Library has an extensive collection
of Byron Harmon’s work, consisting of more than 10,500 photographic negatives,
prints, postcards, transparencies and motion pictures. |
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Harmon Building, Banff
Avenue, ca.1930
(WMCR-V263/NA-4202) |
Byron Harmon photographing
in the Kananaskis Valley, [before
1942] (WMCR-V263/NA-447) |
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