Born at Winnipeg on 11 June 1945 to Janet Brodie “Jay” Sandilands (1913-1999) and Edward Louis “Lou” Barr (1912-1995), he attended Rockwood School and Grant Park High School, then earned a degree in Engineering at the University of Manitoba. Later, possessing an exceptional imagination and curiosity, he studied Photography at Ryerson University at Toronto in the early 1970s.
Moving back to Winnipeg to work as a photographer, he became a founding member of the Winnipeg Photography Group and Floating Gallery in 1981, where he developed his artistic work, much of which was widely acclaimed. Over the years, with partners and on his own, he carried on a business as a commercial photographer, which he continued until his death. He also enjoyed ideas and inventions, and tinkering with gadgets. He was able to acquire a patent for a contact printer for photographic negatives.
He suffered a heart attack on 5 April 2012 while on vacation at Budrum, Turkey, and died at Winnipeg on 25 April. He was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 April 2012.
“Bruce Thomas Barr,” Carlson Family Tree, Ancestry.
Bruce Thomas Barr, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 10 January 2026
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