Local Potter family proud of grandfather’s honorary degree

Staying young at heart and young at mind is key for Canadian photographer extraordinaire Ted Grant, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Victoria on Nov. 10. “As long as you figure you can still kick ass, that’s the important thing,” he said.

It was a “major surprise” for someone who never finished high school.  Over his more than 55 year career, Grant has trained his lens on everything from the summer and winter Olympics, Vietnam, the Chernobyl children, the right-to-die campaign of Sue Rodriguez, in addition to burning to film (and now megabytes) iconic politicians and of course, his family.    

Probably most well known for his 1968 photo of Pierre Trudeau sliding down a bannister, which his daughter, Cyndy Potter, thinks “is pretty funny,” Grant is also an accomplished medical photographer, even documenting and publishing his granddaughter Sasha’s birth.  

Grant’s photography career began in earnest less than a year after he married, when, for his birthday, his wife Irene purchased his first camera. He always “had this thing about photography,” but his folks could never afford to buy a camera for him.  

Although the Trudeau shot is probably the most famous, Grant’s favourite politician to work with was Robert Stanfield, “probably the best prime minister we never had,” he said.  

Self-deprecatingly and couched in quintessential Canadian modesty, Grant recalled receiving the letter informing him of his honorary doctorate.  “They sent it to the wrong Ted,” he said. “They’re talking about Ted Jr.” After his wife corrected him, Grant said he thought, “Holy cow.”  

“He was so nervous” about accepting the award said daughter Cyndy Potter, who lives in Jasper. “He was practicing his speech for days in advance. Just nervous.  I don’t know why, he’s a people person. He always has been.”

His daughter and grandchildren Christopher, Katie, Sasha, Terra, and Emily are “so proud” of their grandfather.  “He’s accomplished a lot in his life. I hope that I can accomplish even half that in a lifetime,” Katie said.  

When in Jasper with his family, according to Cyndy, Grant enjoys sun-tanning and eating sushi at Denjiro. “It was interesting growing up,” said Cyndy. There was always something different and with all the traveling he did, we got really good presents.”  

Still fiercely independent with a thirst for adventure, Grant even went “skydiving for his 75th birthday... and wrecked his shoulder, the one that he carries his camera bag on,” Cyndy said.  “He’s very spirited.”

Known predominantly for his work in black and white, Grant’s photographic philosophy stems from a belief that colour “can very much become a distraction to the content of the picture.”  If you shoot in black and white, “you are looking at the content of what’s happening in that picture.”  In the case of people, “you photograph their souls.”

“He’s very focused,” according to Cyndy, which is not surprising given that the National Archives of Canada contains over 280,000 of Grant’s photos in its collection. He hasn’t lost his sense of humor though.  Friends he’s known for decades have been emailing him congratulatory messages featuring variations on, “Dear Dr. Grant, I have this pain in the ass, is there something you can do for this?”  

When Grant travelled to a high school in Victoria recently, he was introduced as Dr. Grant.  Looking around, he thought, “where is he?” The honorary degree is “sinking in with me,” said Grant, “but by the same token, I’m just Ted Grant.  I like to take pictures and I’ve done that with great passion for 55 years.”