Mennonite Village Photography exhibit features portraits taken from 1890-1940

If you’ve ever wanted to imagine yourself in the past, an exhibition of photos from around 1890 to 1940 invites you to do so, taking a selfie in front of a century-old backdrop.

This backdrop, decorated with painted curtains and frills, is clearly visible in several of the portraits made by Peter G. Hamm, who died in 1965, leaving a collection of 400 glass and film negatives. Known as the village photographer, Hamm captured early 20th-century life in his Mennonite street village of Neubergthal, now a National Historic Site.

Along with photographs by three of his contemporaries, Hamm’s work is on display in a summer exhibition titled Mennonite Village Photography at Canadian Mennonite University’s MHC Gallery.

The three dozen photos on display – some enlarged to life-size – depict various aspects of village life in these sectarian communities at a time when cameras were not household objects. These young camera enthusiasts offered their photographic services to family, friends and neighbors, also developing the images into postcard-sized photographs for a solo exhibition, said Mennonite Historic Arts Committee member Roland Sawatzky. , who organized the exhibition.

“These are villagers taking pictures for their own purposes,” said Sawatzky, curator of history at the Manitoba Museum.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Curator Sarah Hodges-Kolisnyk (right) and archivist Conrad Stoesz (left) worked on the exhibition of large black and white photographs depicting Mennonite village life a century ago at Galerie MHC in Canadian Mennonite University

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MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Originally intended to coincide with the publication in 2020 of a book containing 91 photographs by the same photographers, the Winnipeg exhibition was postponed for two years due to restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. The photos were briefly exhibited in 2020 at Altona’s Gallery in the Park.

Chosen from hundreds of images, the photographs paint a picture of the life, death, agricultural practices and recreation of Mennonite villages on both sides of the Red River in the early 20th century.

“In terms of Manitoba history, this is a really good look at a sectarian group at a time of great change,” Sawatzky said, referring to expanding agricultural markets, increased mobility and the adoption of technology.

<p>MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS</p>
<p>The exhibit was originally scheduled to coincide with the 2020 publication of the book Mennonite Village Photography, featuring 91 photographs by the same photographers.</p>
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<p>MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS</p>
<p>The exhibit was originally scheduled to coincide with the 2020 publication of the book Mennonite Village Photography, featuring 91 photographs by the same photographers.</p>
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<p>The photographers featured were mostly single, younger men with a few extra dollars to spend on camera and developing gear, said Conrad Stoesz of Mennonite Heritage Archives and a member of the Mennonite Historic Arts Committee. They had to deal with Mennonite leaders disapproving of their hobby, using the argument that posing for pictures could lead to excessive pride. </p>
<p>“It’s an ongoing problem,” Stoesz said of the argument against making engraved images, still followed by some conservative Mennonite groups. </p>
<p>“This technology, this hobby is not trivial.” </p>
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<p>MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS</p>
<p>Some of the equipment used by the photographers in the exhibit as well as large black and white photographs depicting life in a Mennonite village a century ago.</p>
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<p>MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS</p>
<p>Some of the equipment used by the photographers in the exhibit as well as large black and white photographs depicting Mennonite village life a century ago.</p>
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<p>As recently as 2018, a conservative Mennonite leader wrote about the prevalence of taking selfie photos with smartphones, saying it was inappropriate. </p>
<p>“How could this edify the Christian? wondered Conrad Barkman of Swansea, Sask. in the February 4, 2018 issue of <em>messenger of truth</em>a bi-weekly publication of Church of God, Mennonite. </p>
<p>The exhibition biographies highlight how photographer Johann E. Funk of Schoenwiese was reprimanded by his minister for taking pictures, and later reused some of the 13×18 cm negatives as windows in his chicken coop. Heinrich D. Fast of Gruenfeld was encouraged by his church to give up photography when he married in 1918 and sold his camera to his brother Jake. Peter Hamm’s negatives were stored in a barn for decades, only to be rediscovered in the 1980s and 1990s. Images left behind by Peter H. Klippenstein of Altbergthal were distributed to family members and later collected and donated at the Mennonite Heritage Archives. </p>
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The move adds interest to the exhibit, providing an unexpected behind-the-scenes perspective as people posed in their Sunday best, said Sarah Hodges-Kolisnyk, photo historian and newly appointed director of MHC Gallery.