This photograph shows Ann and Peter Bassnett with their daughter, Madeline, on a day trip to Elbow Falls near Calgary. It appears to be a cool fall day, as the family wears warm sweaters and pants. All three people crouch down near the water. Madeline wears a scarf tied loosely around her neck. Madeline and her father look at the photographer and smile. They hold long sticks, used to poke at the ground, water, and rocks along the shoreline. Ann looks at her daughter, smiling, and she has her arm around her husband. Behind them there are low shrubs and a tree-lined mountain. This image was taken three years after their arrival in Canada, when Ann's mother, Agnes, came for a visit. Handwriting on the verso of the photograph notes that the image was taken in September 1969, and the date stamp on the recto shows that it was printed a month later. This image is printed on paper with the watermark, “A Kodak Paper.”

Peter and Ann Bassnett immigrated to Canada from England with their daughter, Madeline, in 1966. While in Canada, Peter researched material for his British Fellow of the Library Association thesis. After two years had passed, Peter was succeeding in his employment and he had good career prospects. Ann explains in an oral history interview that they had come to appreciate the differences they encountered when they first came to Canada: the language (such as “diapers” verses “nappies”), the urban design, the vast landscape, and the subtle cultural differences. They decided to stay in Canada.

This image is part of The Family Camera Network public archive at the Royal Ontario Museum, which includes photographs, oral histories, and other objects from family photo collections.