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History Women

Working the Rock

Newfoundland and Labrador in the photographs of Edith S. Watson, 1890-1930

by (author) Frances Rooney

Publisher
Boulder Publications
Initial publish date
Sep 2017
Category
Women
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781927099742
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $24.95

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Description

Between 1892 and 1930, American photographer Edith S. Watson made repeated trips to outport Newfoundland and coastal Labrador, getting to know the rugged land and its extraordinary people. Along the way, she explored, recorded, and compiled a treasury of captivating, dignified images of life at the turn of the century.

Honest depictions of ordinary women are almost invisible in photographs of the early 20th century. Not in Watson’s work. She shows women and girls kneeling to draw water from wells, carrying loads of hay or spruce boughs wrapped in blankets, bending over fish on flakes. In doing so, she has left a rich collection of images seen nowhere else.

About the author

Frances Rooney is a writer, editor, and spiritual director who lives in Toronto. Her books include Working Light: The Wandering Life of Photographer Edith S. Watson (published in Canada, the U.S. and Britain) and Our Lives (finalist for the Lambda Award). Frances has written two books for the Women’s Hall of Fame Series – her first was Extraordinary Women Explorers.

Frances Rooney's profile page

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