Castonguay, Joseph Alexandre, 1877-1972 : Born at St. Michel de Vaudreuil, a town west of Montreal on April 24, 1877, Joseph Alexandre Castonguay was a prominent portrait photographer. He moved to Ottawa in 1901 and 2 years later, he obtained his first camera from William J. Topley. Photographing his friends and then selling them prints developed into a full-time occupation. By 1906, Castonguay appeared in the Ottawa directory as a professional photographer with his first studio located on Sussex Street.
He was largely self-taught and his work was influenced by Pirie MacDonald, a well-known photographer from New York City. An emphasis on lighting and the suppression of background details are characteristics of many Castonguay portraits. He was particularly interested in facial anatomy and sought to bring out the character of his subjects through highlights and elaborate lighting techniques on facial features. Castonguay photographed men, women and children, both individually and in family groups. Many of his photographs were records of ordinary people and the special events in their own lives: birth; childhood; marriage; family; first communions; graduation; club memberships and team photos. He also photographed many prominent Canadian citizens: leading politicians, Supreme Court magistrates and several prime ministers including Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett, mayors, military officers, clergymen, judges, senators, sculptors, poets, writers, singers, dancers and painters.
An active professional photographer for more than fifty years, Castonguay was a member of the New York Professional Photographers Society, the Professional Photographers of America, and the Photographic Society of Ontario, deserving the title of "doyen des photographes du Canada" (Henri Laperrière, Le Droit, 14 décembre 1968). He won several prestigious awards and certificates of merit for his photographic work. His photos were on display at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.
Castonguay died on November 22, 1972, at the age of 95, leaving a legacy of over 46,000 photographs.
Works located in: Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française, Université d'Ottawa.
Exhibition(s): 1970, Reflections of a Capital, PAC, Ottawa (group).
