Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Photographic materials
- Graphic materials
- Textual records
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Fonds title based on the name of the records creator at the date of the latest records transferred.
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1982-2008 (Creation)
- Creator
- Kirkley, Alison
Physical description area
Physical description
Paper and analog originals:
21 photographs (prints)
1 poster
Digitized copies:
5.4 GB of photographs and graphic material : tiff (preservation copies) ; jpeg (access copies).
Dimensions for each photograph and the poster are provided at the item level.
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Alison Kirkley was a photographer and Special Education teacher based in the Metro Vancouver area.
Kirkley was born on February 26, 1953 in Ayr, Scotland. She completed high school in Victoria, British Columbia in 1969, and went on to study at Simon Fraser University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Education degree. From there, she went on to become a teacher of Special Education for the Surrey School District for thirty-three years, retiring in 2009. She passed away on July 24, 2020 in New Westminster, British Columbia, and is survived by her husband, Rick Carswell.
Kirkley was a lifelong student of photographic methods and techniques. She took classes at the Focal Point Photography School in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was an avid reader of new developments in black and white processes. Her artistic influences include the American photographers Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham; the dancers and choreographers Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham; and the New York based dance photographer Barbara Morgan.
Custodial history
The records were in the custody and control of the creator prior to their transfer to Archives in 2020.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of 21 mounted black and white photographic prints and 1 poster for an an exhibition of Kirkley's photos at the New Westminster Arts Council. The photographs feature dancers from the SFU dance program performing in student and faculty shows. One of the main subjects of the photographs is Lorraine Thomson, Alison Kirkley's sister and a graduate of the SFU dance program.
The project to create the photos was suggested to Alison Kirkley by Judith Garay, an SFU dance professor, as a way to document the newly credited dance program at SFU. The photos were taken in a minimalist style using analog camera equipment and natural light, and then developed and enhanced using dark room techniques.
Kirkley's equipment for taking the photographs consisted of a Hasselblad 500CM large format camera; Canon F-1 and Canon TX with a Canon FD series lens; Gossen Lunasix F exposure metres; and Canon Speedlite 199A. Her darkroom was equipped with a Berkey Omega C760 Modular 11 x 14 inch black and white enlarger. The paper used for the prints was Fujicolour and Infospeed MG44M.
Item formats include the analog originals and digitized surrogates.
Items arranged chronologically.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Items arranged in chronological order.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
The fonds includes photographs and graphic material that has been digitized (21 prints and 1 poster). The analog originals have been retained, but the Archives will typically provide access only to the digital surrogates.
Restrictions on access
Items are open with no restrictions.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
The donor Alison Kirkley retained copyright in records she authored, but her estate has agreed to make these materials available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (CC BY-NC).
For more information about CC licenses see this page
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Thomson, Lorraine (Subject)
- Garay, Judith (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
RAD July 2008 edition.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
April 2022: first arrangement and description completed (Matthew Lively).
Language of description
- English