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Born at Simcoe, Ontario on 22 July 1870, son of James G. Strong and Mary Ann Bingham, he had established himself as a photographer by the time he was 21.
He seems to have appeared in Winnipeg by 1901. The 1901 census indicates that he was residing in a boarding house at 282 Ellen Street, owned by James H. Dawson. He identified himself as a photographer and, at least by 1903, if not before, he was employed as a photographer in the studio of Frederick William Parkin at 490 Main Street.
On 30 December 1903, he married Ida Wilhelmina Gordon (?-?) at Winnipeg. He is missing from the Henderson’s Directory for 1904 and 1905 but there is a newspaper mention of him and his wife visiting his parents In Toronto in August and being on a trip to Barrie and Niagara Falls in October.
By 1906, he had returned to Winnipeg and opened his own photography studio under the name Strong & Company located at 300 Main Street. In ensuing years, the company is also identified variously as Harvie J. Strong Photography, H. J. Strong Photography, Strong Studio, and Strong Photo Studio. He and Ada were residing in #7 at the Pulford Block, 398½ Portage Avenue. On 31 March 1908, they welcomed a child, a boy named Harvie.
Strong maintained his business at 300 Main Street until 1912. In the 1913 Henderson’s Directory, he identifies himself as a photographer for Harry H. Bryant at 300 Main Street. This indicates that, by the time the Henderson’s Directory was collecting data for its 1913 edition, he had sold his business to Harry Bryant, whose own photo studio was nearby at 296½ Main Street. An advertisement in the Henderson’s Directory in the 6 November edition of the Winnipeg Tribune announced the sale of Strong Studio, due to “the proprietor’s impaired eyesight”. It is assumed that Harry Bryant had moved some of Harvie’s more valuable equipment to his own studio and was selling off the rest of the business. The next month, Ada Strong seems to have left her husband and moved to Palm Beach, California.
In 1914 and 1915, the Strong Studio was still listed as occupying 300 Main Street, operating under new owners who kept the name. In 1916, 300 Main Street was listed as vacant and Strong was residing at 190 Balmoral and working at Gauvin Gentzel Limited, a photography company at #614, 265 Portage Avenue. By the 1918 Henderson’s Directory, Strong was back in business at 470 Main Street. He seems to have kept this business going until the end of 1922. In February 1923, he declared bankruptcy.
By 1924, Strong was working as an operator at Campbell Studios at 272 Main Street. On 4 February 1924, he married Jessie Louise Lewis (1888-1975) at East Kildonan, havng been granted a divorce from his first wife in 1922 on grounds that her whereabouts were unknown. Later that year, the couple moved to Michigan. They may or may not have opened a new photography studio right away but definitely, by 1930, there was a Strong photo studio in Detroit, Michigan. At some later date, at least by 1935, they were living in Highland Park, Michigan, and owned their own studio there.
He died at Highland Park, Michigan on 4 August 1953.
Year(s)
Address
1906-1912
300 Main Street
1918-1922
470 Main Street
Ontario birth registration, Ancestry.
Marriage registration [Harvie James Strong, Ida Wilhelmina Gordon], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Strong - Gordon,” Manitoba Free Press, 1 January 1904, page 3.
“Society's realm,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 August 1904, page 10.
Birth registration [Unnamed Strong], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“For sale [Strong Studio],” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 November 1913, page 2.
“Wife of photographer declared dead by court,” Manitoba Free Press Evening Bulletin, 26 October 1922, page 14.
Marriage registration [Harvey James Strong, Jessie Louise Lewis], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
This page was prepared by Rob McInnes and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 January 2025
Manitoba Photographers: 1858 to Present
A list of professional photographers who have worked in Manitoba, from 1858 to the present, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.
© 2006-2025
Gordon Goldsborough & Manitoba Historical Society. All rights reserved.
