The O'Reilly Family Photographs

THE CAMERAS IN THE COLLECTION

Eastman touched off the evolution of Amateur photography in 1888 with the production of the first Folding Pocket Camera. It is possible that the O’Reilly’s acquired their No.4 Cartridge Kodak camera from Rochester, NY, as early as 1897. The No.4 Cartridge Kodak Camera was manufactured in Rochester between the years 1897-1900. However, there is stronger evidence that suggests the family members made more use of the "point and shoot" camera (FPK), the No.3A Folding Pocket camera, whose dates of manufacture are May 1903-1908. The No.3A FPK camera was purchased from Toronto between 1903 and Peter O’Reilly’s death in 1905. Several photographs of the popular postcard size are evident in the collection. This 3.25 x 5.5 picture size was made from #122 film for the No.3A FPK. The entire collection of photographs in the "Garden Album" fit these dimensions. It is therefore evident that the No.3A FPK was purchased between the years 1903-1905 by a member of the O’Reilly family, to practice amateur photography.

There are several photographs of Kathleen and Peter at Point Ellice House, and some including Frank taken by the No3A FPK. Caroline O’Reilly passed away in 1899 before the No.3A FPK was purchased, therefore I suggest that the camera was used primarily by a remaining O’Reilly family member, such as Peter, Kathleen, Arthur or Frank. Most snapshots in the collection show Peter or Kathleen, although Frank appears in several as well. The O’Reilly family members are sometimes accompanied by friends and relatives in the photographs. I have determined that as Arthur O’Reilly does not appear in most photographs and was present at Point Ellice House at the time the photographs were taken, he was, therefore, most likely the photographer of the snapshots in the collection.

Arthur was the youngest son of Peter and Caroline O’Reilly. He was born April 4, 1873 and died August 1, 1946. At the time the snapshots of 1903-1905 were taken, Arthur was practicing as a barrister and solicitor for the Victoria law firm Drake Jackson & Helmcken and resided at Point Ellice House. He was also actively involved in gardening and cultivation and issued the construction of the greenhouse around 1898.

EASTMAN'S INFLUENCE IN CANADA

It was not until 1899, with the establishment of the Canadian Kodak Company in Toronto and the availability of point and shoot cameras and commercially processed celluloid film that a significant number of Canadians were able to take up the practice of amateur photography.
During Eastman’s early campaign of daylight loading cameras he emphasised the ease of using the camera. ‘Anybody can use it. Everybody will use it’ ran the publicity.
Eastman’s advertising and influence on Victorian photographic practices spurred three revolutionary new concepts in the thought process of the photographer. The ability of instantaneous photography to capture the moment was combined with the idea of the photograph as historical record. This produced a third idea, that photographs had the characteristics of memory.

The introduction of the Kodak camera in 1888 had brought photography to the masses, it was introduced in the same way that other consumer products were introduced in a market economy, through mass marketing techniques. As a consumer, Kathleen would have been most likely influenced by Kodak advertisements. Her understanding of amateur photography would have been influenced by the idea of the snapshot’s value as an aid to memory. Kathleen never married, but lived out her days as mistress of Point Ellice House, surrounded by her fine belongings and her memories. The "Garden Album" contains several photographs of Kathleen in the gardens at Point Ellice House. She would have seen the benefits of capturing images of herself in the gardens as an aid to memory. In Kathleen’s later years, she would have been able to pull this album out and reminisce over her younger years.