Jean-Marc Carisse

Growing up in Ottawa’s Lowertown during the 1950s and 1960s, Jean-Marc Carisse graduated from the University of Ottawa (BA ’74) after attending LaSalle Academy in Ottawa’s Lowertown and graduating from Eastview High School. His first job on Parliament Hill sent him straight to prime minister office. He spent many years as an official photographer to Canadian prime ministers and captured meetings with world leaders including US presidents from Gerald Ford to Joe Biden.

His photos have been featured in documentaries, biographies and memoirs by prime ministers and magazines such as Time, Paris Match, Maclean’s, and Stern.

In 2002, Carisse received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, and in 2022 the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Scholar Award. LAC holds approx. 400,000 of his negatives.