Photojournalism
By Rod McIvor

The Pierre Trudeau the World has never seen

And with that headline about the late former prime minister that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, a photo exhibit was born.

After receiving a request from the owner of an art gallery in Almonte, Ontario, Citizen photographer, Rod MacIvor, dug into his private collection and came up with 50 photos. The Trudeau pictures are now being displayed in an exhibit that is raising money for prostate cancer research.

During an interview about the exhibit that aired on TV Ontario this past January, Margaret Trudeau was quoted as saying that her ex-husband's "life celebrated in photographs is a sentimental journey that is full of sad and sweet memories, showing his career and family. Rod captured the intimate side of Pierre Trudeau, without sensationalism, the reality not the weakness, the best not the worst. There are playful images, images that show the whole exuberance, valour, his honour, his incredible humour and seriousness." In the following text that provides an introduction to the photographs, MacIvor reflects on his days as a young photographer snapping shots of a prime minister who would become a national and international icon.  

Photo-op: Trudeau, the single dad, plays marbles with the kids at 24 Sussex
(l-r: Sacha, Micha, Justin) during the final days of the 1979 election campaign.

I had the good fortune to be asked by Margaret Trudeau in 1974 to give her photography lessons. This led to some exclusive photos for her and her family, but the rules were that my employers would have the right to use the pictures. Margaret agreed.

Photographing Pierre Trudeau was fun. At the end of a recent interview about the exhibit, I am quoted as saying that I would have paid for the right to take pictures of him. I really did feel that way. Not because I was a Liberal supporter, but because here was a man, smart, rich, and married to a flower child, who gave birth to children on two Christmas days — what more could a young photographer hoping to establish a reputation for himself wish for? The photos of Trudeau and his family were used around the world by publications that subscribed to United Press International of Canada Ltd (UPI), my employer at the time. The photos also led to a National Newspaper Award, and a twenty-year-plus career at the Ottawa Citizen.

Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, came to Trudeau's funeral in Montreal last year, as did Jean Chrétien a politician few people expected would become Prime Minister back when Trudeau still led the party. Many, many other politicians, dignitaries and citizens also attended Trudeau’s funeral. When it was over, 5,000 people flocked to the gallery in Almonte to look at the photos I took in the seventies, and reminisce about Trudeau the single dad playing marbles with the boys; in jeans with a Liberal T-shirt; adored by the crowds on Remembrance Day wearing formal top hat and tails.

So far, we have raised $10,000 for the Prostate Cancer Research Fund. From Almonte, the exhibit travelled to Juten Gallery in Toronto. At the end of May, it will open in West Vancouver at the Silk Purse Arts Centre and six other locations. The exhibit will be on the road for the next couple of years.

The crowds of people who witnessed the first showing at the Almonte gallery had smiles on their faces as they clutched the single red roses that were handed out at the door. They remembered the Trudeau years, and thanked me from the bottom of their hearts for sharing the photos with them. What more could a boy from Nova Scotia hope for?

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Rod MacIvor is a photojournalist with the Ottawa Citizen. He won the Canadian Press 1999 Picture of the Year Award. His photograph of Pierre Trudeau in 1973 holding his oldest son, Justin, under his arm appeared on the cover of a photojournalism book called From See to See.