A Canadian War Museum photo exhibition chronicling the daily life of veterans has brought an element of timelessness to the Royal Canadian Legion, an organization that is seeking ways to remain current.
Near the museum’s entrance, in its main hallway, visually pleasing rows of 25 black-and-white photos hang on a stone wall.
Each picture, taken by Tobi Asmoucha, a Toronto-based photographer, is framed in black and has a detailed annotation describing the subjects. They are photos of buildings, veterans, families, parties and children – all part of legion branches across Canada.
“Everyone has a connection to the legion in one way or another,” says Asmoucha.
Historically, the legion served as a support system for war veterans and their families in many ways: financially, socially and as a network for national remembrance.
The Royal Canadian Legion is the country’s largest veterans organization, with more than 358,000 members.
Everyone from museum staff to volunteers to legion members have been “delighted” by the exhibition, Legion Halls, says Dean Oliver, director of research and exhibitions of the museum.
Oliver says there is more to the legion than formal activities, and that is the goal of the photo exhibition – to show different sides to the organization.
“It’s not just a place for ceremony, it’s a place for labour, dedication, and support,” Oliver says.
In the photos, a veteran smokes a cigarette quietly on a porch, a couple, which has just celebrated their 60th anniversary, sit proudly in a legion hall, while another couple lounges in an empty diner.
Now, the legion is branching out and adapting its ways to changing demographics.
“They are as an institution preoccupied with transition,” Oliver says.
This means the legion is including many people who aren’t veterans and who didn’t and don’t serve in the military.
One of the main goals of the legion is to integrate youth into its branches. One photo shows First Nations students participating in a poster prize contest in Nunavut, and another shows two children dressed in cadet uniforms.
Asmoucha says she started the project as an assignment for Canadian Geographic, but it took on a life of its own.The photographer says she continued shooting pictures after the assignment was over because there was something special about the halls.
“I missed going to legions to take pictures,” Asmoucha says with a laugh.
Asmoucha says the difference between the Canadian Geographic project and the new exhibition was that she decided to make the photos black and white rather than colour.
She says it added a sense of “timelessness” to the legion halls.
Asmoucha says she was surprised by how warm the people were to her, and says she still receives emails from legion members she met on her journey.
One photo shows a veteran standing in front of a tank, and beside it the caption says the wife of the veteran has knitted a baby blanket for Asmoucha, who was expecting a child at the time.
“I feel I made a real connection with the people of the legion,” she says.
The exhibition will be on display until Nov. 20.