Many of the early 20th century amateur photographers were true innovators of their craft. Their dedication to photography and interest in exploring its stylistic and technical aspects helped further the acceptance of photography as an important artistic and documentary medium.

M. O. Hammond [1876-1934] was one of a group of dedicated amateur photographers active in Toronto in the early 1900s. By profession, Hammond was a journalist who enjoyed a career at the Toronto Globe that lasted nearly 40 years.

Judging from the more than 13,000 of his negatives and prints that have survived and are part of the M. O. Hammond fonds at the Archives of Ontario, photography was an activity that consumed much of his time and resources.

Hammond’s photographs, combined with the diaries he kept throughout his life, document his varied interests and activities in the early 20th century Canadian arts scene, his extensive travels, his career as a journalist, and his development as a photographer.

M. O. Hammond, Self-portrait, [ca. 1910] (detail)
M. O. Hammond
Black and White Photograph
Reference Code: F 1075
Archives of Ontario, I0016581

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