M.O. Hammond became a reporter for the Globe (now the Globe and Mail) in 1895, at the age of twenty, and began taking photographs to illustrate his stories. He later became the paper’s literary editor and editor of the Saturday magazine section. Hammond was an active member of the Toronto Camera Club (1906), where he later served as president, and explored the artistic potential of photography by experimenting with Pictorialism. He is best known for his photographs of noted figures in the arts and literary scene in Toronto, as well as his images of the changing cityscape.

Image: Melvin Ormand Hammond, Lawn Maintenance at Toronto Island, c.1910–30, silver gelatin print on textured semi-matte paper, 29.4 x 22.4 cm, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

For further reading, see:

Archives of Ontario. “Hammond, M.O. (Melvin Ormond), 1876–1934.” Biographical sketch (fonds 1075). AIMS (Archives and Information Management System). 1888–1983. aims.archives.gov.on.ca/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/218446256/1/3/847?RECORD&UNION=Y.

Sutnik, Maia-Mari, et al. Photographs by Charles Macnamara and M.O. Hammond: Pictorial Expressions in Landscape and Portrait. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1989.