William Notman was for the latter half of the nineteenth century Canada's most famous and successful photographer. Arriving in Montreal in 1856, he opened a studio in Bleury Street. He set himself up as a photographer at a propitious moment - the advent of relatively cheap photography assured him a ready clientele resulting in a prosperous and expanding business; by 1871 he also had establishments in Halifax and Toronto, with a second Montreal studio opening in the late 1870s. By the time of his death Notman also ran two studios in Boston and one in New York. The business was continued by his sons William McFarlane Notman and Charles F. Notman. All Notman's portraits show a concern to place the sitter in a suitable setting by the use of characteristic props and in the 1860s this progresses to producing tableaux in the studio mimicking outdoor activities. Notman moved on to even more ambitious scenes in the 1870s with the use of montage and composite photographs illustrating such activities as sledging, camping and curling, and even producing group portraits of families from individual photographs.