Tag: archival photographs

Just because it was documented, doesn’t mean we have it…

Just because it was documented, doesn’t mean we have it…Just because it was documented, doesn’t mean we have it…

April 27, 2026 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The archives depends on you: dispelling some misconceptions about the process of building the Museum’s collection

 “Archives are the documentary by-product of human activity retained for their long-term value. […] Like people, archives are diverse,” explains the International Council on Archives.

In simple terms, the archives is a euphemism for a ‘collection of story parts.’

In a recent Pique article, I, the Whistler Museum’s Events and Community Manager, was quoted as saying, “an archive is a living, breathing, exciting thing. ‘Archive’ is a verb.”

The action of the archive, however, is only expanded by donations of materials; adding chapters, pages, periods and punctuation to the make-up of a place… and herein, lies one of the major misunderstandings on how the broadening of our museum collection works.* Just because an event happened and it was photographed, or a document was produced relating to the town in some way – does not automatically mean that we have it.

In short, the archive is infused by gifting. We are dependent on donations This can also mean that the archive can be disproportionately reflective of a place’s demographic. This, too, is true for our Whistler archive.

The Museum’s archive can be viewed as an ever-expanding puzzle; whilst we try to configure matching pieces and identify those missing. The process is equally as diverse as the people and collections who breathe life into it: a reciprocal exchange between gifting and receiving.

The local archive is only made broader — more reflective of those who have, and still do, live here – by donations of material: from physical elements (text, photographs, video/film assets) to non-physical ‘oral histories’ that people come in and record. The Museum’s repository is expanded by people contributing to being part of place-making and meaning. Please never underestimate the value of your experience. The Museum does not have an age limit.

Speakers Series are also a valuable way of documenting reflections and past events, recording our stories through the power of conversations — which add to the record — becoming platforms for thought. Again, I was cited in the same March 20th article by Luke Faulks as saying: “…a museum is an exciting place. Your history sheds light on your present, and it’s a springboard for how we inform our future.”

The Museum invites you to become an active participant and co-creator of our storied happenings by attending one of our events, by volunteering to record your tale or by donating relevant items you may have.

This segues into another often misunderstood element of how the Museum is able to process items received. It’s not instantaneous.

 We are a not-for-profit organization that operates with a small staff of three. Currently, we have an additional person added to the team, hired under contract for the sole purpose of inventorying, appraising, processing (arranging and describing) the donation of the Bruce Rowles 70,000+ photographic collection. This entire process has already taken seven months, working full time, and is still ongoing. Ideally, the last step for archivists is to digitize our collections, which is important for preservation of degrading materials and for easy access to these images. The process is time and labour-intensive. A collection of 20,000 images could take one year to digitize, ensuring it meets Canadian archival standards. It is, however, a donation we are exceedingly happy and grateful to receive: a benefit to the entire community. Bruce wanted to ensure his life’s work would be remembered and appreciated. A selection of his photography will be exhibited at the Whistler Museum from April 24th to June 14th.

As further means of perspective, the Whistler Museum’s entire photographic collection currently exceeds 300, 000 items.  With the addition of the Rowles collection, it will be nearing 400, 000. We have approximately 90, 000 of those items digitized. We try to make many of those items available through a variety of means: from special exhibitions, to being posted on our social media networks, online on our archival database to highlighting them through articles and being featured in events.

The local archives is an expansive and immersive space: infused by your continuous contributions into the building of a pastiche-of-place.

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*It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the past wrongs associated with many colonial museum practices: with a legacy of taking, extracting without permission and stealing from Peoples. The Whistler Museum has participated in the repatriating of some items that were donated, that we did not feel were ours to have. Together, we learn through the past how to co-create collaborative futures…

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Digitizing Alta LakeDigitizing Alta Lake

June 17, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Long before the Whistler Museum and Archives Society (WMAS) was officially founded in 1987 – when it was just a few shelves tucked away in the basement of the Whistler Public Library inside Municipal Hall – the idea of preserving the valley’s summer resort history was already taking root. Even then, the vision was clear: to safeguard and share the stories of the people who helped shaped this community, and to make sure they would not be forgotten.

That vision was driven by a promise. Florence Petersen, the founder of WMAS, made a personal commitment to Myrtle Philip who, alongside her husband Alex, opened Rainbow Lodge in 1914 and brought the first wave of tourism to the Alta Lake and later Whistler area. That promise was simple yet profound: to ensure that Whistler’s history and the lives and experiences of its residents would not be forgotten.

One of the many photos in the Philip Collection.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, efforts to collect oral histories, photographs, and films documenting life in the valley were already underway. The first items added to the museum’s archival collection reflect this early work, including 1,700 images related to Myrtle and Alex Philip and Rainbow Lodge, spanning from 1895 to 1986. These mostly black-and-white photographs, along with various 16mm films, capture a transformative period in the valley’s history, showcasing the growth of the Alta lake community and the broader evolution of Whistler as a tourist destination.

Preserving these materials is a responsibility we take seriously. Following Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) standards, we handle photographs using cotton gloves and store them in acid-free, archival-safe sleeves. These simple yet essential steps ensure that these fragile items remain in good shape for future generations.

Florence Petersen chats with Myrtle Philip. Philip Collection

Of course, preservation is only part of the job. Sharing Whistler’s history with the public, without risking damage to delicate originals, means creating digital copies of these items. Over the years, we’ve steadily expanded our capacity to digitize our collection. Today, we can convert a wide variety of media, including 16mm and 8mm film reels, colour slides, photographic prints, VHS tapes, Hi8, and DVCam formats.

Digitization is carried out using lossless formats like TIFF (Tag Image File Format), which preserve every pixel of the original image. A single high-resolution TIFF can be as large as 150 MB – about the size of 14 JPEGs on a modern smartphone. Unlike JPEGs, which compress data and average out similar pixels (sometimes causing those “blocky” images you see when streaming video on a slow internet connection), TIFF files retain the full fidelity of the original image.

Once digitized, we render to more manageable JPEG versions for everyday use, including social media, educational materials, and exhibits. These smaller files are easier to handle and help us tell Whistler’s story more widely and effectively.

Acid-free boxes, sleeves and more help keep archival materials safe.

To ensure the safety of our digital archives, we back up all high-resolution files to offsite servers and secure long-term storage systems, including LTO (Linear Tape-Open) tapes, which provide up to 30 years of reliable “cold” storage of these digital items.

WMAS is proud to be able to continue Florence’s promise and Myrtle’s legacy. Every photo we scan, every film we digitize, and every story we preserve is another piece of Whistler’s remarkable history saved – not just for today, but for generations to come.

WMAS will be hosting a film screening tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18) at the Point Artist-Run Centre, featuring archival films shot around the Alta Lake community, including 16mm films from the Philip Collection. This screening will offer a fascinating look at films from the Whistler Museum’s archives, shown right on the shores of Alta Lake. Get your tickets for the event here!

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Worth a Thousand WordsWorth a Thousand Words

November 26, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Photography has long served as a powerful tool for documenting and preserving human history. From its invention in the early 19th century, photography revolutionized how people recorded the world, capturing moments in remarkable detail and making them accessible to future generations. The ability to visually document everyday life, historical events, and personal milestones has transformed our understanding of the past.

Some of the earliest photographs of the Whistler area in our collections date back to 1911 when Myrtle and Alex Philip made their three-day journey from Vancouver to Alta Lake via the rugged Pemberton Trail. The Philips played a pivotal role in shaping Whistler’s early tourism through their operation of Rainbow Lodge, the area’s first tourist attraction. The couple’s photographs provide invaluable snapshots of a formative era in Whistler’s history. Their photos helped document milestones such as the arrival of the railway, the first airplane landing on Alta Lake, the start of industries such as logging, and the evolution of community life in the area. These make up some of the Whistler’s most prized images.

Photo contact sheet from the Whistler Question, July 4, 1979. Contact sheets show the images on strips of negatives, which are digitized to archival standards.

With a collection of more than 300,000 physical photographs, the museum’s photographic holdings are its largest and one of its most valuable assets. This collection spans decades, chronicling everything from the first documented mountaineering trip in 1923 (rich with photos of now long-since-receded glaciers) and the development of skiing in 1965, to the design and construction of Whistler Village in 1979-80 and hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Through these photographs, museum staff, visitors, and researchers can explore Whistler’s rich heritage.

Prior to the advent of digital photography (widely adopted during the 2000s), images were captured using a light-sensitive chemical emulsion applied to glass or to a strip of plastic or paper, commonly referred to as film. The process began when light entered the camera (sometimes just a crude wooden box) through a lens and exposed the film, creating a latent or hidden image. This latent image was then revealed during development, where the film was treated with specific chemicals in a darkroom to make the image visible. Once developed, the film could be used to create prints by projecting the image onto photographic paper.

Film types, emulsions, and the chemicals used for developing evolved significantly over the 20th century. One of the most important advancements as the development of safety films, which replaced the highly flammable and unstable nitrate films that were widely used prior to the 1940s. (The dangers of nitrate film and its combustible properties were a major plot point in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds.)

Thanks to the support of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, the Whistler Museum now has two scanners and can scan twice as many images! Our assistant archivist is seen scanning slides from the Insight Photography Collection, a more recent addition to our archival collections.

Tragically, many films from the silent film era of the 1920s were lost forever due to fires caused by nitrate films. One such loss is The Crimson West (1933), Canada’s first talkie film (a film with audio). Based on one of Alex Philip’s novels, it is considered a lost film after the Capitol Theatre in Victoria burned down, destroying the last known copies. Fortunately, aside from a few nitrate film negatives stored safely and securely, most of the museum’s collection consists of prints and safety film.

Our photographic holdings include a variety of formats, ranging from black-and-white images made from 4″x6″ medium-format film to the more common 35mm colour negatives, a popular choice among both amateur and professional photographers. Many of our collections also feature slide film, which were frequently used by businesses and families for presentations or “slide shows.” We ensure the preservation of these photographs by adhering to archival best practices, including careful handling and storage in acid-free archival boxes and stable plastic sleeves.

Photography, as documentation, is a bridge between the past and present. In Whistler, it continues to play an essential role in preserving the stories that define this extraordinary place, and we are glad to share these images with you here and on the museum’s social media channels. If you have photos you’d like to contribute to our collection, we’d love to hear from you – feel free to reach out or visit us at the museum!

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Tokum Film NightsTokum Film Nights

March 5, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When searching for a place to hold a film screening, a cabin in the woods in probably not the first venue that comes to mind. Tokum Corners, however, hosted multiple screenings of films captured by George Benjamin in the 1970s.

George Benjamin first came to Whistler Mountain on a ski trip in 1968 before moving to the area in 1970. He briefly stayed at Toad Hall before moving into Tokum Corners with Rod MacLeod and John Hetherington. Though they bought the building from Daisy Barnfield for $1,100 (about $6,800 today), they leased the land from BC Rail as it was right beside the train tracks on the southwest end of Alta Lake.

Tokum Corners, as seen across the tracks in 1971. Benjamin Collection.

Tokum Corners had no running water and no electricity when they first moved in. Within the first couple of years, they managed to connect the property to the power lines running through the valley, followed soon after by the addition of a well and water system, though Tokum Corners never was connected to any kind of sewer system. The building itself was once described by Hetherington as “a shack sort of in the woods” and was reportedly often repaired using found materials, creating a somewhat hodgepodge appearance.

Thanks to Benjamin, who at the time was a semi-professional photographer, we have quite a few images of Tokum Corners in the archives. He donated over 8,200 images taken during his time in Whistler to the archives in 2010, all of which have now been digitized and many of which have been shared in social media posts, articles and more. The collection, which includes shots of ski patrol, baseball games, and trips to Squamish to do laundry, provides a candid look at life for some Whistler residents in the 1970s and early 1980s.

A creative approach to entering Alpine Meadows after a flood. George Benjamin Collection.

Along with thousands of photographs, Benjamin also shot 16mm films during his time in the area. He was able to follow along with ski patrol on Whistler Mountain while they worked on avalanche control and captured some impressive slides on film, as well as events and happenings in the valley. They films would be screened at Tokum Corners, usually with a soundtrack (at least one person has told us that Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon was a fitting accompaniment to avalanches) and viewers crowded in.

Tokum Corners was dismantled by the early 1990s and no trace of the building remains on the site today. Evidence of its importance as a cornerstone of social life in the valley, however, remains in photographs, films, memories, and even “Tokum,” the ski run on Whistler Mountain that got its name from the residence.

An avalanche set off during control on Whistler Mountain. George Benjamin Collection.

Recently, the museum was able to acquire the Benjamin Film Collection and, thanks to the support of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, purchase equipment to digitize 16mm film. Last summer, our collections student Liam McCrorie digitized the Benjamin films along with other 16mm films in the archives, such as the collection of Jim McConkey’s films that he donated in 2016. This spring, the museum will be hosting a couple of different events to share these films, so be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements soon!

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