The Town Photographer Exhibit

Missed the screenings? Don’t worry! The month-long exhibit featuring Frank Garber’s historic photographs, authentic props from the documentary, and artifacts is open now and will be on display at the museum for the entire month of October.

The Town Photographer’ is a feature length documentary by Nova Scotia filmmaker Todd Langille, spotlighting the life and work of longtime Bridgewater (NS) photographer Frank Elam Garber (1877-1964). Over his 50+ year career, Garber documented all aspects of life in the town of Bridgewater during its formative years – the early to mid-20th century.

Langille was born and raised in Bridgewater through the 1970s and 80s, first coming to know Garber’s work in locating several generations of family portraits bearing his signature. When discovering Garber had lost his life’s work in photographic negatives in a 1952 studio fire, Langille was hooked. He set out to gather a significant cross-section of Garber’s photographs that survived in the public, with the end goal of revealing, in documentary form, the important hometown story the images were certain to contain. What began as a pet project, 28 years ago, has finally been completed with the help of funding from Bell Fibe TV1. ‘The Town Photographer’ is the story of a photographer, a filmmaker and the town that connected them across time.

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/C7bsTkF_5-Q?si=TCrA5wrV2L0i0gsP