Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.04.2003, Side 10

page 10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, 25 April 2003
Þögul leiftur
Preserving and Celebrating Our Photographic
Heritage, An Exhibit, Video and Book of Pre-1910
Photographs are Being Prepared by Nelson
Gerrard. He Is Interested in Receiving Pictures
From You
Every so often, a welcome
surprise literally “shows up
on my doorstep.” It might be a
plastic bag carefully hung from
the doorknob, or a note on the
door directing me to a box left
in the garage. Sometimes it’s an
unexpected package in the mail,
or a phone call from someone
asking that I come by and pick
up something they no longer
have use or room for, but hesi-
tate to throw out...
The contents of these wel-
come bags, boxes, and pack-
ages? As often as not, inside
are assorted old pictures and
photo albums, often unidenti-
fied, sometimes the worse for
wear, and usually well picked
over for anything recognizable
or of value to family.
Sometimes, having been
passed around the kitchen table,
the old photos are stained and
smudged; sometimes they have
become children’s toys, as evi-
denced by childish scribbling or
drawing; a few have obviously
been tacked up on the walls of
pioneer homes, as their yel-
lowed images are liberally
bedecked with fly specks.
Some are water-stained or even
gnawed.
Many of these old photo-
graphs, however, are in excel-
lent condition, and some are
like new — still in the padded
19th Century albums in which
they were carefully depösited
more than 100 years ago. All
are given a good home in the
photograph collection here at
Eyrarbakki, and I’d like the
many donors to know that
A N D
STHOUSE
Guide
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BREKKUBÆR, HELLNAR
IS -356 Snaefellsbaer, Iceland
Tel +354-435-6820 Fax +354^35-6801
E-mail brckkubaer@hcilnar.is

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• Fantastic view of Snaefellsjokull glacier, Mount Stapafell and Faxafloi Bay
• Double rooms with private bathrooms; non-smoking environment indoors
• Comfortable dining room - lcelandic cuisine with organic ingredients
• Excellent lounge with TV, large sun-deck
• Licensed to serve (organic) wine - beer
• Good hiking trails in every direction
Rent-a-car special: 2 nights double room,
breakfast/dinner both nights, hiking tour and
astrology reading from IKR 29.900 (full value 35.600)
Winner of the Icelandic Tourist Board’s EnvironmentalAward2000
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Borgarholtsbraut 44
200 Kópavogur lceland '
lnfo@bb44.is • Tel/Fax:354-554-4228
• Situated in a quiet neighbourhood in Kópavogur
• Personal service in a smoke free house
• Furnished rooms with TV, also ensuites available
• Family oriented surroundings
• Deck with hot tub and cozy yard
• Kitchen and laundry facilities, good parking
• Close by are Kópavogur swimming pool, Gerðarsafn,
Salurinn (music hall), musem of natural history, harbour
for small boats and interesting hiking trails
Summer Rates June 1- August 31/2003
1 per room incl. breakfast buffet $52°*
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Studio apartment 2 persons $109us
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2 per room $60°® • 3 per room $83°®
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Guesthouse Flókagata 1
• Centally located in Reykjavík with main shops,
theatres, museums and transport within easy
walking distance
• Enjoy a continental breakfast in the breakfast
atrium or in the garden
• Guests have access to a fully equiped kitchen
• Our friendly and efficient staff is always ready to
serve you around the clock, every day of the year
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105 Reykjavík Iceland
Tel: +354 552-1155 Fax: +354 562-C
E-mail: guesthouse@eyjar.is
www.eyjar.is/guesthouse

PHOTO BY BEST & CO. OF WINNIPEG C. 1892
Pioneer poet Jón Runólfsson, Icelandic River, 1890, whose
poem “Þögul leiftur” will become the theme and title of an
exhibit, video, and book on early photography among the
Icelandic immigrants in North America.
they’re all much appreciated.
Over the nine decades since
pioneer times, many photo-
graphs like these have fallen
victim to floods, fires, leaky
roofs, rodents, and other rav-
ages. Time itself has taken a
heavy toll. As faces and friend-
ships faded from memory with
the passing of generations,
many of these photographic
momentos have been uncere-
moniously discarded in the
trash or disposed of at garage
sales.
Sometimes, however, neg-
lect has been kind and has
allowed these relics to lie safe
and undisturbed in forgotten
comers, and in other cases pho-
tographic caches have been
faithfully saved and passed
from the hands of one keeper to
the next.
As someone who values
these remnants of the past and
finds new uses for them, I have
been exceptionally fortunate
that people across Canada and
the United States, knowing of
my interest and work, have
thought of my efforts when
down-sizing, cleaning out, or
simply trying to ensure the
future safekeeping of their
accumulations of old photo-
graphs.
The cumulative result of
their thoughtfulness, after years
of saving, is a unique picture
archives that promises exciting
new possibilities for our collec-
tive photographic heritage here
in North America...
Solving the Riddles of
Identiíication
Over the years, the work
associated with photographic
archives has evolved to include
preservation, documentation,
investigation, organization, and
utilization. As the origin of a
photograph can be an important
clue in itself, every donor’s
identity is documented for
future reference, and it is kept
safe in a special archival enve-
lope. Format, backdrop, and
studio stamp are all carefully
studied and compared in order
to date a photograph, and every
eflfort is made to follow up on
any clues and record any partic-
ulars.
Identifying photographs
that bear only partial names or
no name at all is a highly spe-
cialized challenge — but in
many cases positive identifica-
tion can be achieved. Subtle but
important clues lurk in the fam-
ily history of the original owner,
or in that family’s place of ori-
gin in Iceland, in patterns of
emigration and settlement, in
the identities of friends and
neighbours, even in the original
sequence of photos in an album,
in the vintage, the location, or
the ages of children and
sequence of birth - not to men-
tion the faces of the people
themselves. A good eye and
memory for what Icelanders
call svipur (resemblance) does-
n’t hurt. Often, identification is
the result of a combination of
the above and of an almost intu-
itive sense that comes with
careful study of this specialized
subject matter. This is general-
ly not something that takes
place within an institutional col-
lection.
PHOTO BY BEST & CO. OF WINNIPEG C. 1892
The family of Þorvarður Sveinsson (Swanson) and Guðrún
Jónsdóttir of Winnipeg - recognized 100 years later by
Guðrún’s namesake in Iceland.
The Craft Post
Art Gallery & Giftware Store
www.thecraftpost.com
5000 square feet of shopping
Art & craft supplies including quilting,
memory albums, tole painting
Custom framing, Art Gallery
& large selection of giftware
Ty authorized dealer
Dealer of Husqvarna-Viking
sewing machines
Sylvia Gislason
342 FirstAvenue
Arborg, MB
R0C 0A0
204.376.2272
tyendi ngadagtt^irin
' ICELANDIC
Festival
of Manitoba
Fjallkonukvöld
Johnson Hall
Waterfront Centre Gimli
Saturday May 24, 2003
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Announcement made at 8:00 sharp
$12.00 per person
For Tickets Contact
Feslival Office 642-7417
Helga Malis (Gimli) 642-5897 (W) or 642-4093 (H)
Sandra Sigurdson (Wpg) 488-2742
Kim Sigurdson (Riverton) 378-2256
Josephine Kristjanson (Arborg) 364-2339
Connie Magnusson|SchimnoWksi (Wpg) 338-2654
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