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MERRILL, Jean Gainfort
- Born
- Norwich, Ontario, 1913
- Died
- ?, ?
- Biography synopsis
- Jean Gainfort Merrill began her photographic career soon after graduating from high school, working for the photographer Alma Clutton. In Clutton's studio, she apprenticed in the darkroom learning the arts of developing and retouching before she was allowed to take pictures. A few years later, Merrill moved to Winona Lake, Indiana where she took classes at a school run by the Photographer's Association of America. In 1937, she moved to Toronto where she accepted a job in the studio of Sylvia Schwartz, and a few years later, she became employed by Herb Nott, a news photographer. In 1942 Nott left for military service, leaving Merrill in charge of his studio where she did everything from news work to portraits and darkroom work. It was through Nott that Merrill became passionate about photo-journalism and eventually began working for the National Film Board of Canada's Stills Division. Many of her photographs can be found in newspapers such as the Globe and Mail and she became the Canadian Press Photographers' Union first female member. In 1948, Merrill was awarded a prize by the Commercial and Press Photographer's Association of Canada for one of her photographs.
- Media used
- Photography
- Memberships
- Canadian Press Photographers' Union
- Commercial and Press Photographers' Association of Canada, (Treasurer)
- Toronto Women's Press Club
- Ontario Society of Photographers
- Photographic Society of America
- File & Archive locations
- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Archives, ON
- McMaster University, ON - Mills Memorial Library
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- Norwich and District Archives, ON
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Best Photographs of 1948 Chosen, on Show March 1." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 24 Feb. 1949: 7
- "First Woman Photographer Always Willing to Learn." Oxford Review 23 Mar. 2002: 11
- "Group Protests Flash Bulb Ban." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 10 Dec. 1947: 2
- "Heads Press Group." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 8 Dec. 1950: 5
- "Jean G. Merrill Wed in Mother's Gown: Is Bride of Ralph Grossman, Toronto, in Ceremony at Norwich." Toronto Daily Star 12 Aug. 1943: 22
- "Outstanding Women of Oxford." Norwich Gazette 3 Dec. 1980: 14
- "Photographers Kept Busy Taking Pictures of Women." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 24 May 1944: 10
- Beattie, Helen. "Careers for Women: Photography Pays Off But Not to Clinging Vines." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 20 Apr. 1946: 12
- Boyanoski, Christine. Loring and Wyle: Sculptors' Legacy Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1987
- Dyer, Brenda; Kolasiewicz, Sarah and Stevenson, Donna. Outstanding Women of Oxford County Oxford, ON: Oxford County Board of Education, 1979
- Glanzer, Phil. "News Photography: Feminine Version." Popular Photography 21.6 (Dec. 1947): 251-252
- National Film Board of Canada. Contemporary Canadian Photography from the Collection of the National Film Board = Photographie canadienne contemporaine de la collection de l'Office National du Film Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1984
- Payne, Carol. A Canadian Document = Un document Canadien Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, 1999
- Payne, Carol. The Official Picture: The National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division and the Image of Canada Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013
- Ross, Malcolm Mackenzie. The Arts in Canada: A Stock-Taking at Mid-Century Toronto: Macmillan, 1959
- Saylor, Janet. "Haiti Offers Adventures in Tasty Foods." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 21 Oct. 1955: 19
- Sisler, Rebecca. The Girls: A Biography of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1972
Writings by- Merrill, Jean G. and Saylor, Janet. "City-Bred Girls Thrive on Rigors of Camping Trip." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 24 May 1956: 22
