Alexander Henderson

(b Edinburgh, 9 July 1831; d Montreal, 4 April 1913). Canadian photographer of Scottish birth. He emigrated to Canada shortly after his marriage to Agnes Elder Robertson in October 1855. They settled in Montreal, where he worked in accountancy for several years. About 1857 he took up photography as a hobby, and in 1866 he went into it as a profession. In the early period of his business he made portraits, but his international reputation was based on his landscape photography. He received medals for work shown in London, Dublin, Paris and New York. He documented the major cities and resort areas of Quebec and Ontario and many of the villages in Quebec. He was especially fond of the wilderness and made many trips by birch bark canoe to the Blanche, the Rouge and other noted eastern rivers for the purpose of taking pictures for later sale, for example Ready for the Portage (albumen print, 1863-5; Montreal, McGill U., McCord Mus.; Notman Photographic Archvs).

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Henderson, Alexander (1831-1913), British-born Canadian landscape and commercial photographer. He emigrated to Canada in 1855, settled in Montreal, and took up photography as an amateur. He became the first North American member of the Stereoscopic Exchange Club in 1859, contributed articles to the photographic press, and won medals at several international exhibitions. In 1865, he self-published his first and best-known collection, Canadian Views and Studies by an Amateur. The following year he opened a studio in Montreal and established a reputation for landscape work, especially winter snow scenes. During the 1870s, he photographed the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and a decade later produced promotional photography for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in western Canada. He became founding president of the Montreal Camera Club in 1889, and served as manager of the CPR Photography Department from 1892 until his retirement in 1897. Nearly all his negatives were destroyed after his death.

— Joan Schwartz

Bibliography

• Triggs, S. G., ‘Alexander Henderson: Nineteenth-Century Landscape Photographer’, Archivaria, 5 (1977-8).
• Guay, L., ‘Alexander Henderson, Photographer’, History of Photography, 13 (1989)

Alexander Henderson may refer to:

• Alexander Henderson (theologian) (1583–1646), Scottish theologian
• Alexander Henderson (photographer) (1831–1913), Scots-Quebecer merchant and photographer
• Alexander Henderson (politician), historical member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada and Commissioner of Yukon 1907–1911
• Alexander Henderson (Virginia) (1738–1815), Scottish merchant and politician in Virginia, United States
• Alexander D. Henderson (businessman) (1865–1925), vice-president of the California Perfume Company
• Alexander D. Henderson Jr. (1895–1964), son of the perfume businessman
• Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon (1850–1934), British politician
• Alexander Henderson (physician) (1780–1863), Scottish physician, author of History of Ancient and Modern Wines (1824)
• Alex Henderson, band member of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

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