Woman of the Week, Miss Elsie Holloway, Evening Telegram, 1946, January 19, p.8
For many years now, Miss Elsie Holloway has run the Holloway Studio, quietly, efficiently, and entirely on her own.
“It’s been a full-time job,” she said,” for thirty years now.”
“My brother and I started out together to do photographic work, but war broke out. He never came back, and I carried on alone.”
Starting with little equipment, but a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, Miss Holloway has built up a business that has competed successfully with any other studio set up here. The Holloway Studio has become part of St. John’s, and Miss Holloway has photographed so many people that she has come to know practically everybody.
Two of the men who have worked under her have gone onto do photographic work on their own.
The most remarkable feature, is that Miss Holloway started off with very little training.
“Father taught us all he knew,” she said, “ and photography was his hobby. I did take a course in re touching, but that was all. The rest I just picked up myself. I was always fascinated by photography.”
Thirty years ago, however, it must have been unusual for a woman to carry on any kind of business on her own. Miss Holloway has little to say on the subject, being very unobstrusive where her work is concerned, but our guess is that there were many difficulties facing her in the beginning.
“It was probably the background that we had that led my brother and me into photography,” she said, “and helped us pick up the routine as we did, without training. Father was so very interested in such things. He spent hours at the work.”
Professor Holloway taught at the United Church College for many years, carrying on with his work as well as well as his great hobby, photography, despite the fact that he was a semi-invalid. The present Holloway School has been named in his honour. His name has recently come to the fore because of recent discussion as to the possibility of his being the first man on this side to have used the X-ray machine.
The X-ray was discovered in 1895, and two years later, there are indications that Professor Holloway used the X-ray machine. It does seem remarkable that within so short a time after the discovery of the ray, that the machine should be used in this country.
“Of course,” Miss Holloway recalled, “ the machine was small, too small for chest pictures, but I remember it quite well. Father actually used it on a T.B. patient, too. I remember the case well. It was a girl whose fiancée was worried over her arm. Father photographed it, and found signs of disease in the elbow. It is such a pity that the machine was since lost, in the fire which destroyed the College.”
It is indeed. It would have been an interesting addition to the museum exhibits that we hope some day to see again.