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South Peace Regional Archives
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Field's Studio fonds
Field's Studio fonds. -- [1920-1935]., 176 photographs, 12 postcards.
Biographical Sketch
Clarence Wesley Field was born in the state of Ohio, circa 1880. Orphaned at the age of 8, he was on his own at an early age. He trained in an artist’s studio in New York. During the first decade of the 20th century, he married Edith Wilbur, also from Ohio, who had trained as a nurse. Together, they moved to Alberta in 1910.
By that time, the stresses of life were beginning to take their toll on Clarence, and he spent some time in the Ponoka Hospital. While there, he continued to develop his artistic skills through photography. Later he set up a studio in the town. He was a master in the use of props, as can be seen in some of the portraits taken in his studio in Ponoka.
In 1918, Clarence Field came to the Peace Country and filed on the N.W. 34-72-3, north of Bezanson. By 1920, he and Edith were living on the farm, and in 1922 he opened a photograph studio in Grande Prairie. He had an old model T van in which he traveled back and forth. The couple had no children of their own but adopted a child named Dora Cordray, who later married Leo Nelson.
After the Depression hit in 1929, he closed the studio—no-one could afford expensive portraits—and returned to farming. His debt load from farm and studio were so high, however, that he lost the farm. Clarence Field passed away at his home east of Grande Prairie in 1931, at about 50 years of age; his wife later moved away from the community.
Custodial History
This collection came was preserved by several members of the Grande Prairie Community and deposited in the archives over a period of 5 years. The 1997 portion was salvaged by Frank Kohalyk who worked at Field’s Studio. He passed them on to his son Anton. The glass plates were found in an abandoned cabin near Bezanson in 1934, traced to Field’s Studio through prints in other portions of the collection, and also passed on to Anton Kohalyk. Anton donated his entire collection to Grande Prairie Museum in 1997, and they were turned over to the care of Grande Prairie Regional Archives in 2000. The 2002 portion of the collection was preserved by Edith Field, who gave them to her neighbours, Steve and Mary Sarmaga, when she left the community. They, in turn, passed them on to their son John Sarmaga. Other portraits were given to Paul Pivert, a local photographer. Both of these collection were donated to the archives in 2002.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of four series: personal photographs of Clarence and Edith Field; glass plate negatives and portraits from the Ponoka Studio; studio portraits and town/farm snapshots from the Grande Prairie Studio; and a small series of postcards.
Table of Contents
| Series 052.01 | Personal Photographs |
| Series 052.02 | Ponoka Studio |
| Series 052.03 | Field's Studio, Grande Prairie |
| Series 052.04 | Postcard Collection |
| Series 052.01 | Personal Photographs. -- [1900-1930]., 15 photographs.The series consists of formal portraits and snapshots of Edith Wilber and Clarence Field from early adulthood until mid-life. Some of them include props as if they were Field’s portraits, others are experimental. There is also one portrait of Dora Cordray, the child they adopted while in the Peace Country. |
| SubSeries 052.01.01 | Studio Portraits. -- [1920-1929]., 100 photographs.The sub-series consists of various kinds of studio portraits of individuals, couples, families and groups. Some of them include the use of props and uniforms (e.g. sports/work). Most of them are unidentified. |
| SubSeries 052.01.02 | Town of Grande Prairie. -- [1920-1930]., 30 photographs.The sub-series consists of scenes taken around Grande Prairie ca. 1925. Some are professionally taken and matted, stamped as Field’s Studio Photographs, while other are simple snapshots. |
| SubSeries 052.01.03 | Homesteading in the 1920s. -- [1920-1930]., 28 photographs.The sub-series consists of scenes of homesteading activities in the Grande Prairie area in the 1920s. The majority of them are casual snapshots of harvest time. |
| Series 052.02 | Ponoka Studio. -- [1910-1920]., 3 photographs.The series consists of a set of glass negative plates: formal portraits featuring first nations people in elaborate native dress, posing in classic studio settings. This may have been for a series of postcards featuring Canadian Native Inhabitants, as the accompanying prints are postcards. Six of the glass negatives are casual snapshots showing a trapper’s camp, his horse and sightings of bear and moose. |
| Series 052.03 | Field's Studio, Grande Prairie. -- [1920-1930 ca.]., 158 photographs.The series consists of 100 studio portraits of individuals, couples and families from Field’s Studio; 30 snapshots of historic Grande Prairie scenes and buildings, and 28 photographs depicting homesteading in the 1920s. Some of the studio portraits include props such as uniforms and pets. |
| Series 052.04 | Postcard Collection. -- [1900-1930]., 12 postcards.The series consists of 5 tourist postcards from the United States and 7 colour postcards of farming scenes in Western Canada c. 1920, published by The Valentine & Sons United Publishing Co. Ltd. in Winnipeg, Manitoba and printed in Great Britain. Only one of the cards has a personal message on the reverse. |