Renwick's Portrait Studio

• Renwick's Portrait Collection

Renwick’s Portrait Studio was owned and operated by Archibald Albert “Archie” Renwick (d. Dec 14, 1984). The business opened in 1942 at 316 Baker Street. The studio moved to 577 Ward in 1958 and remained at this location until the business closed in 1984. There is evidence that Archie Renwick hired assistants throughout his career, but he was the owner and primary operator.

Renwick was a long-time Nelson resident. He moved to Nelson in the late 1920s and graduated from Nelson High School. In his youth, Renwick worked at Renwick’s Transfer and Taxi on Vernon Street. In the 1930s, he started a grocery business called Renwick and Romano. He left Nelson in the early 1940s and graduated from a photography school in Chicago in 1942. Renwick was also an active musician, and was a member of both the local Troubadour Orchestra and the Nelson City Band. He remained in Nelson until his death. As a business that was open for more than forty years, Renwick’s Portrait Studio photographed thousands of Nelson residents. In addition to earning the confidence of the Kootenay Doukhobor community, the studio also photographed such notable residents as the Bishop of Nelson, Martin Michael Johnson (1899-1975), and Mayor Louis Maglio (1917-2007). Many of Renwick’s wedding photographs, in particular, were published in the Nelson Daily News. The fonds is also known as the Archie Renwick Collection.

Revised between January-April of 2012.
Revised by Archives Assistant, Alex Dawkins.