Stephen Joseph Thompson was a photographer working mostly in Vancouver and New Westminster between 1886 and 1905.
I’m obsessed with a photographer named Stewart Joseph Thompson. I first heard of him a few weeks back when I saw a photo he’d taken of Georgia and Burrard Streets in the 1890s. Last week, I found a photo he took the day after the fire destroyed New Westminster in 1898, including Thompson’s own Columbia Street studio.
New Westminster:
According to Jim Wolf’s A photographic history of New Westminster, the Ontario-born Thompson was a talented artist who trained in Toronto, Montreal and New York. He moved to New Westminster in 1886 at 21 and partnered up with the Bovill brothers. Many of his early photos were commissioned portraits, but he was also shooting and selling landscapes—mostly along the CPR line.
By 1888 he had his own studio in the Hamley Block on Columbia Street, selling “beautiful views of B.C. mountain scenery and city views for souvenirs.”
Victoria:
Thompson was in Victoria on May 26, 1896 when a streetcar overflowing with 143 people off to the Queen Victoria birthday festivities, plunged through the Point Ellis bridge killing 55 and injuring many more. Evidently, he saw the disaster as a business opportunity, and took out an ad in the Vancouver News-Advertiser.
Vancouver:
Thompson married Constance Victoria Clute In 1897. They moved to Vancouver, opened a studio at 610 West Hastings, and put an assistant in charge of the New West business. The following year, his New West studio and thousands of glass plate negatives were destroyed in the Great Fire.
The city directories show the Thompsons living at various addresses in the upscale West End. He was listed as a photographer and art supplier until around 1911. After that, Thompson joined the ranks of property speculators and set himself up as a realtor, eventually moving into the Standard Building at 510 West Hastings.
In 1927, the tanking economy likely drove him back to photography. That year the city directory lists Thompson as the manager of Photo-Arts on Dunsmuir, and his home address the Washington Court at Thurlow and Nelson.
He died in 1929.
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11 comments on “Stephen Joseph Thompson, photographer (1864-1929)”
Thompson was indeed a fine photographer. His best work is transcendent, rather than merely documentary. As was said about the great French photographer Eugène Atget, “he knew where to stand.”
He also knew what he was doing. For those who can detect the technical triumph of his work, it is superb.
Had Thompson worked in Paris, perhaps his name would now enjoy similar prominence as his French contemporary. Lucky for us that he turned his eye (and lenses) on our beloved West Coast.
Photo Arts was the business where my father, Jan de Haas, found employment in 1952; then located on Hornby St North of Dunsmuir St.
I saw a reference that said his son took over the business. I wonder if it was the same one.
What a city this would have been had they not infilled False Creek. Check out that shoreline then.
Hi Eve,
Thanks for this writeup on S.J. Thompson. He was truly a photographic genius. He was one of a handful of British Columbia photographers I know about who worked in the plantinotype (platinum) process. His contemporary and equal R.H. Trueman was another who used that process. As you may know, there are over 250 digitized photographs of his at the City of Vancouver Archives. Since they’re high-resolution, downloadable and in the public domain, there’s lot of potential for further study. In 1987 I published a schholarly article in “Journal of the West” titled “Picturesque British Columbia: The Life and Photographs of S.J. Thompson” (p. 17-26). It includes a nice portrait of him a descendant provided me. I came across your writeup because I was Googling for further information on Photo-Arts Ltd. Yes, S.C. Thompson was the son who ran Photo-Arts after his father’s death. In 1952 it was at 569 Hornby St.
Thanks so much David for all this extra information. Is your article online? I’d love to read it.
I have a photo album called ” THe Great West of Canada ” from the early 1900s which contains about thirty photos of Thompson. It is a souvenir album sold to tourists at that time. If you want a photo of this album or its contents, it contains incredible photos. It would be my pleasure to share them.
Hello,
I have a photo album called ” THe Great West of Canada ” from the early 1900s which contains about thirty photos of Thompson. It is a souvenir album sold to tourists at that time. If you want more photos for your page it would be my pleasure to share them with you.
I have a photo that looks burnt around the edges. It looks like S.J.Thompson in the middle of 2 other guys with mustaches with the same wicker table and an urn on the opposite side with a wide leaf plant in it.
I bought an old picture frame at a yard sale in the 90’s in Marshfield, Ma.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
I don’t want any money I just want to pass it on to the one who should have it before I pass on.
Hi, I have a deck of card, British Columbia Souvenir Cards, which date from around 1900-1910 and are all photos by S J Thompson. I am shortly to publish an article on them, whihc will appear on the website below.