Grant's outstanding reputation as a photojournalist (one of Canada's premier photojournalists) and commercial photographer spans a career begun in the mid-1950s working for the National Film Board of Canada. In his long career, he has visited several foreign countries, capturing in his photos a rich naturalness in a moment of time. He has been the personal photographer to many political figures including former Prime Minister Joe Clark (1979-80). He began taking photographs for the Progressive Conservative party in 1964. Grant has also shot a wide range of assignments documenting the activities of departments and agencies of the federal government and of private companies, sports subjects, a number of lifestyles and social phenomena in Canada and others aspects of both resource and secondary industries in all provinces and territories of Canada. Mr. Grant has covered most of the Olympic games since 1968, the Vietnam War (1965-1973), the Six Day War in the Middle East (1967), Pope John Paul II's visit to Canada (1984), and NATO military exercises in Norway. His work has been featured in Time, People, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and Canadian Geographic.
He worked also on feature stories for magazines such as National Geographic. Some of Grant's shots are well-known, especially the one of later disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson crossing the line during Seoul Olympic Games final 100 meter competition.
He was a life-long member of both Western Canadian News Photographers Association (WCNPA) and Eastern Canadian Photojournalists Association (ECNPA) and is still an active photographer. He has been involved in over twelve books including "Joe Clark, The Emerging Leader," "Residence: Homes of Canada's Leaders," "Men of the Saddle: Working Cowboys in Canada" and "Montreal -- A Guide to the City, Berlitz". He has lectured for over 33 years, and is mentor to many photojournalists in Canada and beyond. His photographs appear in books ranging from "Men of the Saddle" to "A Day in the Life of Canada". His many awards include both the Gold and Silver medals for photographic excellence from National film Board of Canada. In 1990, he was given an honorary medical degree by the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1999, Grant was the recipient of the CAPIC Lifetime Achievement Award.
His first published picture appeared in 1951 in the Ottawa Citizen. He continues to provide visuals for a wide variety of media. Originally a resident of Ottawa, Grant moved to Victoria in 1981 to slow the pace of his photo assignments, but he continues to pursue an active career.
He became interested in the medical world after his own surgery, and began documenting life in the medical profession. Grant's ten year photographic documentary dedicated to the world renowned teaching physician Sir William Osler illustrates the dedication of modern-day doctors and nurses. This project produced a major exhibition for the National Gallery of Canada's Museum of Contemporary Photography, and a stunning black and white book, "Doctor's Work, The Legacy of Sir William Olser".
In his later years, Grant lectured internationally for Kodak Canada and Leica Camera Inc. and had been the recent subject of a documentary film about his career. Grant has summarized his work as follows: "When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. When you photograph them in B&W, you photograph their souls".
The fonds also includes daily journals kept by Mr. Grant during his photojournalism assignments.
Grant, Ted, 1929-2020 : Ted Grant was born 27 May 1929 in Toronto and died in Victoria BC on April 20, 2020. He received an honorary doctorate in 2008 from the University of Victoria and the Order of Canada in 2016 for his outstanding body of work. He began to carry out photography in the mid-1950s when he was in his 20s; his first published photograph was in the Ottawa Citizen in 1951. Grant worked for the National Film Board of Canada from 1958 onwards, as well as taking photographs for the Canadian Government Travel Bureau, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and other companies and organizations, both in government and in the private sector. He carried out a great deal of photography to document politicians and political campaigns, including many leadership conventions, elections (both federal and provincial) and first ministers' conferences. He also covered many years of major sports (Olympics, Commonwealth Games) and current events (Vietnam, the Pope's visit to Canada). Later in life, he became interested in documenting life in the medical profession through his photographs, which produced a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada's Museum of Contemporary Photography. As a photojournalist he has published several books, including works on Joe Clark, cowboys, a Day in the Life of Canada, Residences and Doctor' Work, The Legacy of Sir William Olser.
He has received both a gold and a silver medal of excellence in photography from the National Film Board of Canada, and in 1999 received a lifetime achievement award from CAPIC (Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communication).
