An Illuminating Experience 10 Years Ago

How a trip to photograph author Alexander McCall-Smith in Edinburgh, morphed into my obsession to celebrate the talented authors of Canadian Literature.

Mark Raynes Roberts

How time flies!

It’s hard to believe ten years have passed since my ILLUMINATION - Portraits of 150 Canadian Authors exhibition at the Gardiner Museum.

It all started back in the Fall 2014, when Sarah and I were sent to London to do four author interviews (Alexander McCall-Smith, Isobel Greenberg, Mary Lawson and James Crace) for the Globe & Mail newspaper, which I would photograph. It was a fun assignment which took us to Edinburgh, Birmingham and London, allowing us time to also visit family.

On our return, an idea popped into my head to begin photographing Canadian authors. I had been a photographer since my early teenage years but primarily had used the medium as research for my crystal and goldsmithing projects. What inspired me to take more author portraits was the enjoyment I found in connecting with a fellow artist, and having both a visual and literal conversation while shooting them.

Little did I realize that this portrait I took of author Dr. Alexander McCall-Smith, (‘The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency’ fame) at his Edinburgh home for a Globe & Mail newspaper article Sarah was writing, would become the catalyst for me to go on and photograph 150 Canadian authors.

At the time, I was already creating the annual Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize, crystal book sculpture, part of a $60,000 prize given to the winning non-fiction writer in Canada. That first year, Charles Foran received the award for his book Mordecai: The Life & Times, and so I had the opportunity to meet him. On my return to Canada, I called Charlie, and he generously offered to become my first candidate.

My goal at the outset was quite humble in that I hoped I might photograph 30 authors over two to three years. Instead, after only several weeks, I had already surpassed that goal and was beginning to build momentum with both literary agents and publishers at the major publishing houses. Both Ellen Seligman and Louise Dennys, the Executive Publishers at Penguin Random House Canada, became champions of the project, as did Mary Osborne, Executive Director, of the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

Having created the crystal Hilary Weston Prize for Non-Fiction in 2011, I was fortunate to meet its recipient Charles Foran, who kindly offered to be the first author photographed for my ILLUMINATION project.

As Ferris Bueller famously said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Before I knew it, I was driving all over Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec shooting authors, and being invited to photograph others who were flying in for book signing events or literary festivals. Within 6 months, I was closing in on 100 authors, thinking that would be the end of the assignment.

Then one weekend in Spring 2015, Sarah and I were invited by Kelvin Browne, (the former Director, of the Gardiner Museum) and his partner to a dinner party. It was over dinner that I mentioned the ILLUMINATION photographic project to Nicole Eaton (who had previously commissioned me for the Royal Winter Fair “Signy Eaton Award” Winter Garden Show sculpture) and it was Nicole who suggested to Kelvin it would be an exciting new direction for the Gardiner Museum to consider exhibiting my work. I was so surprised when Kelvin agreed that we should talk. A few years previously, I had spoken with the patrons Helen and George Gardiner at my Raynes Crystal Gallery, and had been told elegantly that their museum was specifically for ceramics and porcelain.

A special memory I will always treasure was having a pot of English tea with the indomitable Margaret Atwood, and her late husband Graeme Gibson, as I photographed them both at Hart House, University of Toronto.

Sadly, both Helen and George had passed away in the interim years, and the museum was in fact looking at ways to engage a broader audience in the decorative arts. So I suggested to Kelvin I would create an exhibition of twelve crystal sculptures inspired by passages about light and illumination from books chosen by the Writers’ Trust of Canada, along with what would eventually become my 150 black-and-white portraits of Canadian authors.

I first met author and poet Steven Heighton in 1993 through his parents who lived at the time in Caledon, Ontario, where I also had a farmhouse. I photographed Steven here at his home in Kingston in the summer of 2015. Sadly he died of cancer in 2022.

The idea of taking 150 Canadian author portraits was first planted by Mary Osborne, Director at The Writers’ Trust of Canada, who thought this unique collection could be published as a celebration book for Canada’s 150th Anniversary. It was an exciting prospect and Ellen Seligman, the renowned Editor and Publisher of such noted authors as Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood and Rohinton Mistry, became the champion of the project. Ellen very kindly began introducing the idea of a coffee table book celebrating ILLUMINATION - Can Lit 150 to the various publishing houses, but what I wasn’t privy to at the time was that Ellen was also seriously ill. So it came as a terrible shock that on March 25th, 2016, Ellen died.

It was a tragic loss for her family, and also for everyone connected to Canadian literature who had benefitted from her knowledge and talent as a literary editor.

This portrait of author Sheila Heti made it into Canada’s Globe & Mail newspaper article prior to the opening of the ILLUMINATION - Portraits Of Canadian Authors exhibition at the Gardiner Museum and IFA Toronto Reference Library, in Toronto.

Sadly the book never materialized which was disappointing, however the purpose of ILLUMINATION for me was to primarily shine a spotlight on Canadian authors and felt fortunate that the writing community had simply embraced the project with such positivity. In the end, the exhibition was held at three different locations including the Gardiner Museum, Toronto Reference Library and the Toronto Harbourfront where the International Festival of Authors is held.

The collection of 150 author portraits was created not as a “best of” but rather a celebration of the broad range of writers in all genres and at all levels on their career path. When I photographed each author, they were asked why they wrote, and this became an integral quote alongside each portrait when exhibited.

Legendary Canadian journalist, editor and author Peter C. Newman, best known for his three-volume series on The Canadian Establishment, was a force of nature even in 2015, at age 89! When I photographed him at his home in Belleville, Ontario, I had great difficulty getting a clean image without him talking! Luckily after three hours together and remaining patient, he finally acquiesced and I had my moment. It reminded me of the time Yousuf Karsh, who abruptly pulled the cigar from Sir Winston Churchill’s lips in his studio, creating one of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century…even if Winnie was most definitely pissed off!

The ILLUMINATION 12-piece crystal collection was inspired from passages about light chosen by the Writers’ Trust of Canada committee, and depicted the work of authors, Anne Michaels, Margaret Atwood, Jane Urquhart, Leonard Cohen, Rohinton Mistry, Miriam Toews, Lawrence Hill, Emma Donoghue, Yann Martel, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje and Joseph Boyden. (maybe I’ll save those for another Substack)

Creating the 150 black and white portraits is like a time capsule of 2015. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderfully talented artists. Part of my process in helping relax the writer prior to taking their portrait was to ask the simple question of “does beauty matter to them and why?” This was a simple way to engage their interest and before a photo was taken, we were often into deep conversations about everything from jazz, to paintings and nature. Then I would begin snapping!

I first photographed award-winning author and poet Anne Michaels at Hart House, at the University of Toronto, in Spring 2015. We spent a lovely morning talking about art and the importance of beauty. Anne was best known for her novel Fugitive Pieces which won the Trillium Book Award in 1996, that was eventually turned into a 2007 film produced by Robert Lantos. Her recent novel Held won the 2024 Giller Prize in Canada and was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize in the U.K..

One of the joys of developing this project has been the deep friendships that blossomed because of it. It’s interesting how we connect as artists and human beings.

Sitting on the fire escape steps of Toronto’s Massey Hall in 2015, author and short story writer Joseph Boyden, appears to contemplate his most recent book The Orenda published in 2013. His novel Three Day Road won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General’s Award in 2005, and in 2008, he won the Giller Prize for Through Black Spruce.

The ILLUMINATION - Portraits of Canadian Authors and Literature exhibitions were held between October 26th and November 15th, 2015, with the opening vernissage on October 27th of that year.

In total, I traveled over 20,000 kilometers to shoot the 150 authors, and took over 22,000 images to eventually sift through for the final collection.

I photographed Dr. Margaret MacMillan in the dining hall of Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 2015, where she had been the provost from 2002 - 2007, prior to becoming the Warden of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University from 2007 - 2017. Her great grandfather was David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1916 -1922.

Those who attended the ILLUMINATION exhibition vernissage included The Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson. John Ralston Saul, Susan Swan, Anna and Julian Porter, Rohinton Mistry, Anne Michaels, Barry Callaghan and his wife, artist Claire Weismann Wilks, Jean Riley, (former President, National Arts Centre) Scott and Krystyne Griffin, (Griffin Prize for Poetry) Sen. Jerry Grafstein and his wife Carole, Catherine Nugent and Mary Symons among many others.

I spent a delightful afternoon photographing author Susan Swan and her acrobatic cat in the garden. As well as being a novelist and non-fiction writer, Susan is also the co-founder of The Carol Shields Prize For Fiction, the largest literary prize in the world for Canadian, American and non-binary fiction authors.

I continue to enjoy taking portraits of artists, writers and musicians, and have started a collection of talented Nova Scotian’s already!

Hope you enjoyed the read and that you found it illuminating.

Mark