Gushul, Lena and Thomas

Lena and Thomas Gushul were well known photographers who worked in Alberta in the first half of the 20th century. Thomas was born in 1889 in what is now Western Ukraine, in the village of Rozhniv. Thomas immigrated to Canada in 1906. Upon arrival, Thomas worked on railroad construction and also in mining. Lena was also born in the same village in 1898. She came to Canada a few years later in 1912. They married in September 1914, and operated two photography studios in the Crowsnest Pass area. They opened their first studio in Coleman in 1918 and closed it in 1928. The second studio was opened in Blairmore on the eve of 1921, and this studio operated until 1953. Thomas and Lena Gushul left a large archive; a big part of it is housed at the Crowsnest Museum.