Abstract

The collection of Lachine Rapids images studied in this thesis are hybrid and innovative. Ranging from paintings to postcards, they represent a time where major social, technological and economic changes were occurring. Acting as natural barrier to water travel, the Lachine Rapids were a significant factor in Montreal's development as an economic powerhouse--a midway point for goods transferred to and from inland. Despite the development of Montreal as an industrial center (including the building of the Lachine Canal as a method of circumventing the rapids), there occurred a substantial increase in "nature tourism." Traveling in large steamships used specifically for the journey through the rapids, tourists would safely experience nature as "untamed." The improvement of the camera, the increase in disposable income for the middle class and the rise of a romantic concept of nature were crucial for the growth of this tourist movement. All combined to promote the consumption of the Lachine Rapids and by extension, Montreal, as a natural visual commodity. Catering to what was popular--tourists arguably sought to purchase images that represented to them an "authentic" portrayal of their voyage through the rapids. The daytrip to the rapids was travel as performance thus transforming the images into an embodiment of the performative experience.