Members of Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities have raised $300,000 to help bring The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs to Toronto.

The Art Gallery of Ontario  which has acquired the Collection,  said it contains more than 3,500 historical images from 34 countries, including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago It is believed to  be the world’s largest collections of such images. and contains studio portraits, landscapes and tourist views.

Bringing to life the changing economies, environments and communities that emerged following the abolition of slavery, the Collection includes nearly every photographic format available during the years 1840 to 1940, including prints, postcards, daguerreotypes, lantern slides, albums, and stereographs

Patrick Montgomery, a former documentary filmmaker had amassed the materials over the course of a 12-year “passion project.”

The acquisition was made possible in part by the contributions of a 27 donors, the majority of whom are from Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities.

The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs now positions the AGO as a leader in Caribbean photographic research, and will make its debut in an exhibition in 2021