John Vanderpant

John Vanderpant (January 11, 1884 – July 24, 1939) was a Dutch-Canadian photographer, gallery owner and author. He made his living doing portrait work while becoming known as a major member of the International Modernist photography movement in Canada. He was a key figure in Vancouver's artistic community.

Personal life and early career Born Jan van der Pant on January 11, 1884, Vanderpant grew up in Alkmaar. Although expected to take over his father's tobacconist business, Vanderpant developed artistic passions especially those related to music and literature. Little of Helders' work survives, but a portrait of Yousef Karsh is among his most known prints.

Vanderpant became an active participant in international salons, winning several awards, certificates, and medals. His work conveyed the arresting effects of light and shadow, textures, and compositions. In 1920, he founded the New Westminster Photographic Salon as part of the Fine Arts Gallery of the British Columbia Annual Provincial Exhibition. Three Sisters (1920s–1930s). Silver bromide print. From the Art Gallery of Ontario collection.

While Vanderpant started as a pictorialist, his work moved from soft focus and romanticized images to more modernist compositions. However, he was never adverse to dodging, cropping, or enlarging; nor did he totally abandon soft focus. During the mid-1920s he began photographing grain elevators with his 6 ½ x 9 cm. Ansco camera with an f/63 anastigmatic lens. Close-ups of fruits and vegetables were also a way "to emphasize the rhythm and beauty of design in . . . nature's architecture". In 1930, he undertook a commission for the Canadian Pacific Railway, traveling from Vancouver to Quebec. His images of Canadian architecture from this commission have been characterized as building an image of the nation as dynamic, industrializing, and modern. the Art Gallery of Ontario; Toronto; Leiden University, The Netherlands; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; the New Westminster Historic Centre and Museum, New Westminster, British Columbia; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Vancouver Art Gallery.