H.J. Perrier (Photographer) Fonds 1877-1966.

0.3 cm textual records
131 prints, graphic
107 glass plate negatives

Hector Joseph Perrier was born 18 July 1877 at Alfred, Ontario. When he was twenty-six years old, he moved to Nelson, BC where he obtained employment at David Wadd's Studio and trained as a photographer.

In 1907 he opened a studio in Pincher Creek, AB where he did portrait work and finishing film for amateurs. He married Ellen in 1909. The couple had two children, Arthur and Irene. They continued to live in Pincer Creek until 1915, when the family moved to Salmon Arm and Perrier opened a photography studio.

Perrier's work in Salmon Arm included portraits and landscapes. His portraits were often taken in his subject's homes, a significant departure from previous photographic styles. Perrier posed many of his subjects in natural settings, so we get a closer glimpse of the people behind the portraits. His wartime postcards are a fine record of military activities. Perrier captured scenes of men as they enlisted to fight overseas. His streetscapes are an uncommon record of Salmon Arm in its early years.

Near the end of WW I, Perrier moved to Edmonton where he worked in other professions, as a salesman, clerk and insurance agent. However, he continued to work in the darkroom, retouching photographs for Alderson Photography and McCutcheon's.

In 1927 Perrier moved to Jasper, AB where he opened a photograph finishing business. According to authors Jack McCuaig and Don Stewart, he later concentrated on the retail trade and was able to pursue landscape photography once again.

Perrier retired in 1948 and his son, Art, took over the business. Perrier died in St. Albert, AB in Youville Home of the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) July 21, 1966. Perrier was buried in the Jasper Cemetery.

The H. J. Perrier fonds consists of glass plate negatives, contact prints made from those negatives and ephemera.

1983.0012.0012
circa 1914-1916