The camera is my tool. Through it I give reason to everything around me.
-- André Kertész (1894-1985)
Friday, January 22, 2010
ANOTHER VIEW
You might be right Rob, it is a good idea for a book. You wonder what the story is behind this monument because as my friend Linda pointed out, it is an unusual pose for this kind of statue.
The memorial was commissioned by a prominent Almonte area family in honor of Lt. Alex Rosamond, PPCLI, who was killed at Flers-Courcelette in Sept. 16, 1916. One story has it that the memorial, based on photos of Rosamond, so looked like him that his widow had the artist change the memorial.
This is a very interesting view of the memorial called "The Volunteer" and perhaps its best aspect. Most people take photos 'head on', but the addition of the winterscape and the town hall in the background give it a unique perspective. Alex Rosamond left money before he enlisted (at 42 with a wife and four young daughters) to have a memorial made to the men of Almonte who died in the war. As the owner of the largest enterprise in the town, the Rosamond Woolen Mill, he would have known anyone who subsequently died. The statue was duly designed and executed by the well known sculptor Robert Tait Mackenzie who had local connections. He had originally put on the insignia pips of the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry, but was asked by Rosamond's widow to remove them as it would have identified her husband too closely. He did, but the likeness is identical to a photo we have of my wife's grandfather, whom of course she never met.
The memorial was commissioned by a prominent Almonte area family in honor of Lt. Alex Rosamond, PPCLI, who was killed at Flers-Courcelette in Sept. 16, 1916.
ReplyDeleteOne story has it that the memorial, based on photos of Rosamond, so looked like him that his widow had the artist change the memorial.
This is a very interesting view of the memorial called "The Volunteer" and perhaps its best aspect. Most people take photos 'head on', but the addition of the winterscape and the town hall in the background give it a unique perspective. Alex Rosamond left money before he enlisted (at 42 with a wife and four young daughters) to have a memorial made to the men of Almonte who died in the war. As the owner of the largest enterprise in the town, the Rosamond Woolen Mill, he would have known anyone who subsequently died. The statue was duly designed and executed by the well known sculptor Robert Tait Mackenzie who had local connections. He had originally put on the insignia pips of the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry, but was asked by Rosamond's widow to remove them as it would have identified her husband too closely. He did, but the likeness is identical to a photo we have of my wife's grandfather, whom of course she never met.
ReplyDelete