The right place at the right time
Richard Furlong one of three prominent P.E.I. photographers included in ‘A Documentary Impulse: 1970s Photography of Prince Edward Island Life’
Richard Furlong was one of the prominent photographers in P.E.I. in the 1970s.
He was the night photographer at The Guardian.
He operated his own studio. And he enjoyed street photography.
“There were so many marvelous characters at that time, so there were lots of opportunities,” says Furlong, who still calls York, P.E.I., home.
A case in point is “University Avenue”, his black and white photo of three men nonchalantly standing at a corner, while another man hitchhikes on the other side of the street.
“It’s the kind of photography I really like. Everyone was in the perfect position,” says Furlong, who also went across the street and took a photo of the hitchhiker.
Furlong also likes to photograph old houses.
One day he found one that had a pump organ and chairs intact, in a living room of a deserted house.
“I was blown away. That’s why I took the photo. It was like, ‘where did these people go?’ ”
Taken in the 1970s, these photos and more are part of his contribution to “A Documentary Impulse: 1970s Photography of Prince Edward Island Life”.
Currently underway, the exhibition also includes work by prominent ‘70’s photographers George Zimbel, Wayne Barrett.