Paul Couvrette

Paul Couvrette (born June 22, 1951) is a Canadian commercial photographer based in Ottawa, Ontario.
Early life and career
Couvrette earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Carleton University in 1974. He was the
photography editor of The Charlatan, the university's newspaper. After graduation, he traveled in Europe and worked at the camera shop Wallace Heaton in London.
Upon returning to Ottawa in 1975, Couvrette worked as a photographer shooting weddings, bar mitzvahs and portraits.
Work
Couvrette’s work has appeared on over 500 magazine covers including Time, and Ottawa Life. His portrait clients have included Antonio Lamer, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Judge William Stevenson numerous Chief Judges of the Tax Court of Canada, Cognos founder Michael Potter, author and head of the National Library Roch Carrier, Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, Corel founder Michael Cowpland, CBC personality Rick Mercer, former US
Ambassador Paul Celluci, the Speaker of the House of Commons,Peter Milliken and author John Ralston Saul He was commissioned by the Public Archives to create a portrait that shows every Canadian prime minister since Pierre Trudeau.
and has photographed the Prime Ministers for Magna International and CBC to promote the Next Great Canadian Prime Minister television show. Couvrette was included in the list of Top 50 Citizens by Ottawa Life magazine. Couvrette's editorial clients include Time, whose Canadian edition used his photograph of Maher Arar (as "Canadian Newsmaker of the Year") for its cover, and Architectural Digest.
Couvrette has lectured throughout North America for professional Associations such as the Professional Photographers of Canada.
His expertise was recognized early in his career by Kodak who featured him in the Kodak Lecture Series at Ryerson in 1979
Couvrette was a pioneer in digital imaging and one of the first professional photographers to utilize
the technology in Ottawa. After buying a film scanner in 1991, Couvrette embraced digital technology and eventually became the Canadian spokesperson for Agfa. An article in PhotoImaging magazine described his digital work as characterized by "images of dreamlike distortions and unexpected arrangement of matter."
In 2011 Couvrette became the center of a controversy in which Mayor Watson of
Ottawa called his services as City of Ottawa portraitist "a frivolous
expense". Photographers across North America rallied to his cause and
the local media supported Couvrette by uncovering the fact that most of the
fees were due to failures by the City and Councillors regarding responsibility
for the costs.
Couvrette has launched a number of actions regarding the theft of his work, both online and in
print.
The Karsh brothers
Couvrette was a friend and colleague of Malak and Yousuf Karsh, and cites Yousuf Karsh as a primary influence on his portrait photography. Both
photographers referred him clients upon retirement, and Malak Karsh passed on the legacy of creating imagery for Canadian currency.
Awards
Paul Couvrette is accredited as Master Photographer by the Professional Photographers of Canada, which in 1994 named him as one of three Canadian Photographers of the Year (Commercial Award)
Couvrette was awarded Ontario Photographer of the Year by the Professional Photographers of Ontario for three consecutive years.<ref name="greatgrads146" />

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