Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Dorse McTaggart fonds
General material designation
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
ca. 1700 photographs and other material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dorse McTaggart was a professional photographer best known for his images of British Columbia and his postcard business, active in the 1960s and 1970s. His photographs were also published in magazines, calendars, and similar publications. He won several awards for his photography and was the first accredited “scenic” photographer in North America. As a tribute to his contributions the Professional Photographers of British Columbia established the Dorse McTaggart Memorial Trophy. This trophy is awarded each year to the photographer who takes the best scenic photograph.
McTaggart was born in Saskatchewan and moved to B.C. in 1949. He established his postcard business, Scenes by Dorse, in 1963. Dorse printed the cards on his own printing press.
Custodial history
Materials were previously held by Walter Lanz, a professional photographer who purchased Dorse’s postcard business and other photographic material after Dorse passed away. Walter printed postcards under the name Oak House Publishing.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of records relating to the landscape and postcard photography of Dorse McTaggart. McTaggart owned and operated his own postcard business. His photographs and postcards feature scenes from throughout British Columbia, including mountains and other nature scenes, parks, towns, historic sights and landmarks, recreation, bridges, museums, and industrial sites. Dorse’s photography went beyond this subject matter, including portraits and weddings, but this material is not included in the fonds.
Materials in the fonds include negatives, transparencies, photographic prints, and published postcards, which represent the various stages of postcard production. It appears that Dorse produced many of his postcards by shooting on 4x5 film, then creating a 4x5 film positive from which to print the postcard on his own printing press. The fonds also includes a journal kept by Dorse in which he wrote down brief descriptions of photographs that he took, marketing books that he used to show his postcards to potential buyers, and a small amount of correspondence and other textual records.
Items have been arranged into five series that maintain the organization they had when received by Rare Books and Special Collections. It is not clear if this organization was that of Dorse, Walter, or a combination of both.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Whistler Museum and Sechelt Community Archives also hold copies of his postcards and photographs.
Accruals
General note
Photograph identifier: BC-2169
Physical description
Includes 769 postcards. - 2.7 cm of textual records. - 12 prints. - 5 booklets
Physical description
Photographs includes negatives, slides, transparencies, and prints.