Working Light: The Wandering Life of Photographer Edith S Watson

Johanne M. Pelletier is an archivist at McGill University in Montreal.

Edith Watson spent most of her adult life as a traveling freelance
photographer, capturing images of rural life in Canada between 1894 and
1928. Some 1700 of these images were assembled in albums by Watson and
are the subject of this biographical and photographic essay.

The book uncovers the almost-lost work of a woman whose tenacity in
maintaining meticulous records about her life and work distinguish her
contribution to women’s history. While not all of Watson’s records
survived, the core of her photographic work and other textual material
was kept by her cousin, Lois Watson. Through these records, Rooney
pieces together a consuming tale of Watson as a talented artist, smart
entrepreneur, and spirited personality.

Working Light not only represents a tale of rescue in women’s
history, but details the discovery of a trail of evidence in archival
records and secondary references to Watson’s surviving family and to
the actual records. Rooney’s introduction offers considerable detail
about this search. However, while she did eventually get access to the
records through Lois Watson, she offers little information about the
current location of the originals. Were they brought to an archive for
long-term preservation?

This is a book that will delight the general reader and frustrate
anyone with an interest in the preservation of documentary heritage.