Lorraine Monk

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Lorraine Monk. She died peacefully on December 17, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, with her husband Daniel at her side. She leaves behind her 4 children, Leslie Ann, John (Suzane), David (Alida) and Karyn (Scott) and 8 grandchildren, Mark, Natasha, Tino, Adrian, Genevieve, Logan, Carson, Adelaide and sister June and husband Daniel. She is predeceased by her sister Shirley and brother Grant, brother-in-law Richard. Her parents were Edwin and Eileen Spurrell.

Lorraine Monk was an Officer in the Order of Canada, was born and grew up in Montreal where she attended McGill University. At 25, with a B.A. and M.A from McGill, she moved to Ottawa, where she worked at the National Gallery and helped Donald Buchanan create and publish the first issues of Canadian Art Magazine.

Working at the National Film Board in Ottawa where she was Executive Producer of the Still Photography Division, Lorraine developed a passionate belief in the power of photography to change the world and the vital importance of supporting and celebrating Canada’s photographic community headquartered in Toronto.
Lorraine was honoured by the Order of Canada twice: as a member for her first ground breaking book- Canada / A Year of The Land and an Officer for her book Between Friends/Entre Amis, Canada’s gift to America celebrating its Bi-Centennial.

 She was also honoured by the Order of Ontario for her work with Photographers For Peace. Lorraine was also a recipient of many International book and photographic industry awards, and was the recipient of Honorary Degrees from York University and Carleton University.

John Robert Colombo described Lorraine Monk’s commitment to photography as 
“surpassed only by her commitment to Canada”. He also lauded her achievement in 
“turning the publication of a book into a National event!”

Lorraine Monk’s achievements and dedication to photography earned her the respect and admiration of the photographic community. The media diligently and faithfully recorded her long battle to achieve recognition and support of photography, frequently describing her as the “Queen of Photography”.

Lorraine Monk encouraged and motivated the printing industry in Toronto (where all of her 32 photographic books where printed) to reproduce a photograph so well that it was “indistinguishable from the original”.
And they did, developing a printing technology which attracted National and International attention.
In the early 1980s, Lorraine visited Ansel Adams in Carmel, California and presented her latest book featuring the photography of Robert Bourdeau. He was overwhelmed with what had been technically achieved by the Toronto printer Herzig-Somerville. 

Her last exhibition with the NFB was with Robert Frank, who was her favourite social documentary photographer.

Online condolences can be made at
https://mountpleasantgroup.permavita.com/site/LorraineMonk.html

Due to the current pandemic, a celebration of her life will be announced at a later date on Lorraine’s website, http://www.lorrainemonk.com

For those who wish, donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, www.alzheimer.ca or at Ryerson University, Ryerson Image Centre, www.ryersonimagecentre.ca