Unofficial Portraits

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This is a catalogue of an exhibition that was held at the Art Gallery of York University, October, 1987. It is a collection of photos of Canadian politicians taken by themselves. Danson set up his equipment, left the shutter-release cable to the politico, and then quit the room. Each subject could shoot a roll of film on himself, but Danson had the final choice on the photo to be used in the exhibit. He asked 122 people over the course of two years; 59 appear in the book. Actually there are 62 plates here, but three of them are of contact sheets.

Notes are given for each portrait (name, position, circumstances of the shoot, etc.) and there are two introductory essays (by Robert Fulford and Maia-Mari Sutnik) about self-portrayal in history. Of course, much can be read into the portraits: Brian Mulroney staring at a globe; Jean Chrétien saluting; Barbara McDougall holding a flower; Sinclair Stevens pretending to be a farmer; David Peterson of Ontario dressed in shirt sleeves and loosened tie.

While selection appears to have been based on interest, regionalities were also a consideration. Politicians seem to be the same from Vancouver to St. John’s. This is a nice idea in “found art” and self-expression, but the shutter-release cable intrudes too much in just about every single picture. Or was it meant to be that way?