Renwick’s Portrait Studio was owned and operated by Archibald Albert “Archie” Renwick (1909–1984). He moved to Nelson in the late 1920s and graduated from Nelson High School. In his youth, Renwick worked at Renwick’s Transfer and Taxi on Vernon Street. In the 1930s, he started a grocery business called Renwick and Romano. He left Nelson in the early 1940s and graduated from a photography school in Chicago in 1942.
After obtaining his training, he returned to Nelson and opened Renwick’s Portrait Studio on 316 Baker Street. The studio moved to 577 Ward in 1958 and remained at this location until the business closed in 1984.
As a business that was active for more than forty years, Renwick’s Portrait Studio photographed thousands of Nelson residents. In addition to earning the confidence of the Kootenay Doukhobor community, the studio also photographed such notable residents as the Bishop of Nelson, Martin Michael Johnson (1899-1975), and Mayor Louis Maglio (1917-2007). Many of Renwick’s wedding photographs, in particular, were published in the Nelson Daily News.
Renwick’s Portrait Studio Collection was donated to Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History Archives on May 22, 1992. These photos are part of his work that Renwick took Nelson residents’ portraits at Renwick’s Portrait Studio during the 1970s.
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| A group portrait of an unspecified women's bowling team from Nelson, May 1970 |
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| Doukhobor wedding portrait of John Kooznetsoff and Christine Posnikoff. The couple are both holding a bouquet of pink-and-cream flowers, April 25, 1970 |
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| Portrait of Leonard Maida. She is wearing a short white dress, white veil, and white gloves, holding a book and prayer beads, June 12, 1970 |
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| Wedding portrait of Edward Strelive and Marlene Verigen, September 5, 1970 |
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| Wedding portrait of Mr. Couch and Mrs Raymond. The married couple are flanked by the best man (to the left) and the maid of honor (to the right), November 28, 1970 |
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| Wedding portrait of Mr. Verigin and Mrs Robert. The bride is holding a bouquet of yellow flowers, August 15, 1970 |
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| Portrait of a family. Mother and father are seated on chairs. Four young male figures are standing behind, and a young boy with blonde hair, August 30, 1971 |
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| Portrait of a large family of Mr and Mrs E. Johanson who are the two elderly individuals in the two middle seats of the middle row, August 10, 1971 |
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| Portrait of Kitty Gilbert who dressed in a floor-length gold velvet evening jacket that has been adorned with a corsage of purple flowers, January 28, 1971 |
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| Portrait of Mr and Mrs Albert Miller. Mrs Smith is on the left and is wearing a blue dress over a high-necked white top. Mr Smith is on the right and is wearing a dark suit over a pink shirt and patterned tie, November 23, 1971 |
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| Wedding portrait of a Doukhobor couple. The groom is wearing a brown suit, with a white shirt and silver tie. The bride is wearing a knee-length white dress, a corsage, and a traditional white headscarf, May 8, 1971 |
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| Wedding portrait of a Doukhobor couple. The groom is wearing a dark suit, with a white shirt and blue tie. The bride is wearing a white dress, a corsage, and a traditional white headscarf, November 27, 1971 |
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| Wedding portrait of Fred Chow and Catherine Choquette. The groom is on the left and wearing a green shirt with a brown suit and tie. The bride is on the right and is wearing a long white dress, August 1971 |
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| A married Doukhobor couple, Mr and Mrs Wayne Ostoforoff, June 17, 1972 |
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| Family portrait of the Jay family. Tim Jay is standing at the back of the arrangement. Patricia is seated and is flanked by her two children, February 15, 1972 |
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| George Roland Zubick in Shriner dress. He is wearing a red, tasseled hat with with the word "GIZEH", a plaid suit jacket that has a patch attached to it which reads "No. 1 Shrine Club Nelson, B.C.", September 23, 1972 |
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| Linda Barber in ceremonial Masonic dress. She is wearing a tiara, a white dress, and a dark purple cape, September 28, 1973 |
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| Mr and Mrs James Miller. Mrs Miller is wearing a light blue, sleeveless top. Mr Miller is wearing a light blue shirt with a tie and dark-colored plaid sports coat, September 15, 1973 |
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| Mr and Mrs Kinoshita. Mrs Kinoshita is wearing a purple top with a metal pendant. Mr. Kinoshita is wearing a white shirt, blue-silver tie, and a charcoal suit jacket. Both individuals are wearing black-framed glasses, February 1973 |
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| A married Doukhobor couple, Peter and Ann Chutskoff, with best man and maid of honor, April 6, 1974 |
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| Portrait of a couple. The man is on the left and is wearing a plaid sports coat over a white shirt and plaid tie. The woman is on the right and is wearing a pink top, and dangle earrings, October 26, 1974 |
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| Portrait of a man and a woman with a black background. The photographer used double exposure for this work, which means that the two individuals were photographed separately, November 12, 1974 |
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| A group wedding portrait of a Doukhobor couple. The image contains four female figures and three male figures. The bride is wearing a white dress with a white headscarf, July 26, 1975 |
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| Portrait of an old man wearing a dark grey suit jacket over a white shirt and diagonally-striped tie. He has a large white beard and black-framed glasses, September 10, 1975 |
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| Portrait of a young woman wearing a long, cream-colored dress. She also has a pink flower in her hair, June 4, 1976 |
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| Married couple Gordon Webb and Anne Farrell. The bride is holding a bouquet of white and red flowers, June 24, 1977 |
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| Portrait of a woman dressed in traditional Scottish attire, posing with three trophies. The woman is wearing a black hat and is holding a set of bagpipes in her right hand, June 22, 1977 |
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| Portrait of Bob Allen with a German shepherd dog, June 1977 |
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| Family portrait of John Kirkhope and his family. The children, comprised of two girls and one boy, are standing behind their parents, February 25, 1978 |
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| Portrait of a girl posing with three trophies. The girl is dressed in a Highland dance outfit and the trophies have been placed on a low, draped table on the right-hand side of the image, March 29, 1978 |
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| Portrait of a man with a bear hide and hunting paraphernalia. He is wearing a cap and plaid button-up shirt, June 3, 1978 |
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| Portrait of a man. He has a mustache and glasses, wearing a mustard colored button-up shirt with a brown corduroy sports coat, September 9, 1978 |
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| Portrait of an older couple. The woman is wearing a blue pant suit over a white shirt with a broad collar. The man is wearing a charcoal grey suit over a white shirt and plaid tie. Both individuals are wearing glasses, November 22, 1978 |
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| A family portrait of two men and one woman, 1979 |
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| Portrait of a man in purple pants, a turquoise cap, and a long-sleeved light shirt. He is holding a gun, and standing before a green background, 1979 |
.jpg "Pictures of the Early Chinese Canadians in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries")
