Mordecai Richler by John Reeves

Photographer, writer and broadcaster John A. Reeves (Canadian; 1938 - 2016) became interested in photography while still a student; his work appeared in national and international publications. He served as a special consultant to the National Film Board of Canada in the production of the book Between Friends – Entre Amis, published to acknowledge the American Bicentennial in 1976. He also contributed to several NFB books and exhibitions, including Call Them Canadians (1968), Many Happy Returns (1969), and a collection of portraits of Canadian women in 1975. He participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions, and his work is included in public and corporate collections, as well as in the National Archives of Canada.

Reeves began writing for magazines in 1972, and his work appeared in such publications as Toronto Life, Macleans, and Destinations Magazine throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He undertook several writing commissions for companies like Genstar Ltd., Harlequin Enterprises, Cara Holdings Ltd. and Big Sisters/Big Brothers of America.

In addition to his writing and photography projects, Reeves worked as a television and radio broadcaster. He served as host of the arts and entertainment program Toronto in Review on CBC Radio, and was a regular guest on prominent Canadian television talk shows of the era.

John Reeves was the recipient of various graphic awards including the Graphica Club of Montreal and the Toronto Art Directors’ Club. In 2002, the Canadian Association of Illustrators and Photographers awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award. He exhibited widely, and his photographs of Inuit artists and arctic landscapes are particularly well known.

Adapted from: University of Toronto Media Commons