4 minute read
Remembering Jean Chartrand
By Brad Kelly, MPA
Advertisement
“WHEN I JOINED PPOC 15 YEARS AGO, I WAS LOOKING FOR NEW FRIENDS AND LIKE-MINDED PHOTOGRAPHERS WITH WHOM I COULD ACTUALLY DISCUSS WHAT I DID FOR A LIVING, AND WHO WOULD UNDERSTAND THE TERMINOLOGY SO THAT I DIDN’T HAVE TO SPEND HALF THE CONVERSATION EXPLAINING THE BASICS. I MET THIS ANIMATED CHARACTER WHO INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS JEAN. WE HIT IT OFF FROM THE START. MOVING THROUGH THE HALLS AND ROOMS OF THAT FIRST CONVENTION, I WOULD SEE A WAVE, OR FEEL A PAT ON MY BACK, THEN SEE A HAND EXTENDED FOR ME TO SHAKE. “LEMME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY NEW FRIEND, BRAD”, “BRAD, LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY WIFE, DONNA”, AND ON IT WENT. IN ONLY A FEW DAYS, IT FELT LIKE JEAN AND I HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR YEARS.
After that, no event that I attended seemed complete until Jean and I found each other at some point. It wasn’t a convention until we had time to talk about what we’d been doing, what we had planned, and where we were heading next. Jean and I became, I am proud to say, friends. But Jean wasn’t there just for me. He was always willing to help members navigate the mechanics of our organization. He was an active sponsor for many new members and he was generous in offering guidance on accreditation. Beyond that, many of our members regarded Jean as both a friend and a mentor.
The warmness of Jean’s personality equaled the strength of his talent. Jean joined the PPOC in 2008 but his PPOC-ON membership went back even further. He earned his CPA in 2010 and his MPA in 2012 with his second Masters Bar in 2019. His many Architectural, Press, and Editorial Awards attest to his skill as an artist as does his presence in the Loan Collection and his being named 2012 Commercial Photographer of the Year for Ontario. Some of my best memories of Jean were from the times we spent on the Ontario Board together. We took pride in planning some great provincial conventions. Together with Jay Terry, we formed a core crew that seemed to accomplish miracles. We pulled many rabbits out of many hats, often stuffing a few back in for “next time”. After hours, I can see him up there on karaoke nights, then working the room to make sure everybody was having a good time. Spending so much time planning a convention, making all the arrangements, then watching the results play out in front of you can be pretty strenuous and stressful. Working behind the scenes to bring all the pieces together was actually fun for me, but I am really going to miss the times standing next to Jean and having him lean over to share a conspiratorial message just between us. His eyes would light up, and his character would burst through with that funny little grin. Then he’d resume a deadpan look that he could never hold for long. In no time, that grin would flash again. The last time that I actually saw Jean was during a quick trip up to Ottawa to retrieve something that he had been holding for me. Shortly before these strange times came down upon us, we had that chance to hang out for a short while. But it felt like just another of our frequent brief get-togethers. We talked about when we’d get back together again and then with a hug we were off again. I would have liked to have spent more time sitting and talking, but it was a quick hit and run and I had to head home right away. None of us know how much time we’ve got. We try to make the most of it with the people we care about. We may comfort ourselves by fantasizing that we will always be here for the ones we love and care about, and that they will be for us. But we know that is not how life really works. On April 26, I learned my friend, our friend, was gone. The news broke my heart. No more hugs, no more conspiratorial whispers, no more shared adventures, no more memories to make together. I had to go outside and sit by myself. I had just found some old images of the two of us on a misplaced memory card. I never got to send those to him. But I have them.
Photographs and memories. That is what we do, and in the end, that is why we do it. Jean wouldn’t want us to be sad for too long because of his passing. He always had a way of putting a smile on people’s faces. He was a character. He would want us to remember the many good times that we shared.
As long as we have those memories, Jean is still with us.
We need to keep creating photographs and memories with those around us, for those we care about.
