Presented by Greg Newton to the Rideau Township Historical Society. May, 2008. Report by Lucy Martin.

Once again a speaker from our own ranks proved that RTHS members lead very interesting lives. Greg Newton shared the dynamic world of photography with an appreciative audience at last month's meeting at Knox Presbyterian Church in Manotick.

Greg was born to the life and eventually took over the family business, in 1977. His parents Bill and Jean Newton founded the studio in 1940, running it out of their home on Wilbrod Street, while raising their four children. No pocket-sized, mega-pixel marvels of technology back then! The working couple had to contend with heavy equipment and white-hot, single-use flash bulbs.

With a contract to supply the Ottawa Citizen with news photos, at its peak in the 1950's, and to continue the core business of commercial and portrait photography Newman Studios maintained a staff of 20 photographers and technicians. Over its life the studio has chronicled events ranging from historic to the ordinary, thus preserving a view of Ottawa that jogs memories and recalls the attitudes and hopes of its people.

In 1974 Andy Andrews & Greg Newton formed a partnership to become Andrews-Newton Photographers Ltd. Andrews-Newton Photography continued as a full service photographic business specializing in portrait & commercial photography. They worked out of studios on Sparks St. and O'Connor St. until 1994 when Andy retired.

Greg had plenty of anecdotes to accompany his slide presentation, as well as beautiful banner-sized montages with groupings: celebrities from all fields, statesmen and women, places, accidents and those who put the Ottawa Citizen together, right down to fresh-faced newsboys.

Besides capturing news as it happened, generations of just plain folks were immortalized for posterity in portraits by Newman--possibly you, or your relatives, can be found smiling over that very studio logo?

Perhaps as many as a half-million images from Newton Photographic (along with later partnerships: Andrews-Hunt and Andrews-Newton Photography) have been donated to the City Archives, preserving a wonderful record of life in the region from the 1940's to recent times.

The Q&A period included some discussion of the history of photography, film versus digital imaging, the challenges of long term-storage and methods of organization for larger collections. Greg continues in the business. Visit his web site at http://www.gregnewtonphotography.com/ for more information on the company and for contact information. It’s a very nice site.