Whitelaw, A. Brodie, 1910-1995 : A. Brodie Whitelaw was born at Meaford, Ont. in 1910 and died in 1995. He moved with his parents to Vancouver in 1919, and by the age of twelve he had acquired a Kodak Vest Pocket camera. By his later high school years he had set up a small portrait photography business, in which he was help considerably by the internationally known photographer, John Vanderpant, whose style and outlook greatly influenced his photography at this time. After a year at Vancouver Technical High School, Whitelaw went to the University of British Columbia to study aeronautical engineering. He found this uncongenial and, as the Depression hit Vancouver with some force, came to Toronto in early 1931. After a short course at Shaw's business Schools, Whitelaw worked briefly in the accounting department of Shell Oil, and shortly thereafter became a photographer in the commercial and advertising studio at Milne Studios. By the autumn of 1931 he had joined the Toronto Camera Club, and exhibited in the club's monthly competitions. His increasing involvement in professional photography, and his desire to obtain a pilot's licence, led him to give up the Club in 1935. In the mid 1930s he moved to Pringle and Booth in the agency, fashion, and catalogue fields. Here he remained until 1942, when he joined the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as staff pilot at No. 9 Air Observers School, RCAF, St-Jean, Quebec, a navigation school. After the War he joinded Brigden's Limited, a leading Toronto graphic arts house.
A. Brodie Whitelaw's early photography was mainly landscapes and portraits, done in soft and diffused focus. However, by the late 1920s, perhaps following his mentor Vanderpant, his interest in geometrical form and the massing of shapes had taken precedence over the pictorialist style. After his move east he continued his concentration on line and form. Whitelaw exhibited at the Toronto International and other Toronto area salons during the 1930s. After 1934 much of his photography was done with various colour methods, primarily three-colour carbon and wash-off relief; he gave these up when Kodachrome became readily available. After the War Whitelaw became deeply involved in professional activities. He was one of the founding members of the Commercial and Press Photographers Association of Canada (CAPPAC), served on the Board of Directors for six years, and was elected president of the association in 1955. He continued at Brigden's until his retirement in 1980.
