Canadian stamp stories

On July 4, Canada Post will issue the final set of stamps in the five-year Canadian Photography series, coinciding with Canada’s 150^th. The series showcases some of the best photographers and photography our country has produced over the last 150 years.

Says designer Stéphane Huot, “It was a great privilege and a real pleasure to work on this series from start to finish. I discovered great artists and photographers who made a real impact on the history of Canadian photography. It is definitely one of my proudest philatelic achievements.”

Closing the series are five stunning shots: (1) Claire Beaugrand-Champagne’s Ti-Noir Lajeunesse, The Blind Violinist, Disraeli, Quebec, 1972 (Beaugrand-Champagne was Quebec’s first female press photographer). (2) Robert Bourdeau’s Ontario, Canada, 1989. (3) Gilbert Duclos’ Enlacées, Montréal, 1994 (Duclos was a letter carrier and truck driver for Canada Post in the 1970s and the man behind the image of Oscar Peterson that graced our first stamp featuring a living Canadian, in 2005). (4) Samuel McLaughlin’s Construction of the Parliament Buildings, Centre Block, circa 1862 (McLaughlin was Canada’s first official photographer). (5) William James Topley’s Sir John A. Macdonald, circa 1883.