Arts photographer Richard Tardif exposes the talent and potential of all kinds of creatives.
By Hattie Klotz
For a man so accomplished in his legal career, Richard Tardif is surprisingly reticent in describing his success in his second career as a professional photographer. “I’m just not used to talking about myself,” he says, looking slightly embarrassed at the attention this demands.
With his quiet demeanour, “I aim to capture the essence of the subjects I shoot,” Richard explains. “As a photographer I’m very discreet with my silent cameras.”
Richard, who worked on the Meech Lake Accord, has dealt with many judges at the Supreme Court and has pleaded as counsel before that same court. He was the first legal advisor in the office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and has worked in the Privy Council Office. His list of accomplishments in the highest offices of the land is long. But now that he has taken his retirement, it’s photography that makes his heart beat fastest.
“I’ve always been interested in photography,” he says. “Even while a senior government servant, I enjoyed taking pictures at retreats and conferences.” Now, that interest has landed him an album cover and promotional video with Warner Classics. The image is a portrait of celebrated classical pianist Alain Lefèvre for the release of the first song, Parfum d’Ivresse, on his next album of original compositions, Consolation.
Shot in the Montreal studio of their mutual friend Luc Martineau, a retired federal court judge who’s now an abstract artist, the album cover is a vibrant mustard yellow colour with one of Luc’s paintings as a backdrop for the portrait of Alain.
“What I really like to do is bring different artistic disciplines together,” Richard mentions. For instance, he brought together Ottawa fashion designer Frank Sukhoo, milliner Madeleine Cormier of Les Chapeaux de Madeleine and Luc the painter for a fashion shoot featuring hand-painted dresses and hats. It was featured in the Spring/Summer 2023 issue of LUXE.
For Parfum d’Ivresse’s accompanying video, Richard has combined other colourful abstract works by Luc, with close-up photographs of individual flowers that he shot at La Chasse-Gardée du Marais in Chelsea, Quebec. The result is a dream-like passage through art and music.
Richard, who has been married for 39 years and has two children and one grandson, credits his wife Joanne for some of their collaborations. “She has a great eye,” he says, and a great voice. Joanne sings in the Chœur Classique de l’Outaouais, a choir that recently pulled together a musical collaboration featuring local school children, inspired by a painting by Jean Paul Riopelle, in a nod to the artist’s 100 birthday.
The initiative, called Chanter Riopelle, involved a commissioned piece of music from Québecois composer François-Hugues Leclair, which was then performed by the choir and children from l’Ecole du Lac-des-Fées at a June 2023 premiere in Gatineau.
Richard documented the process, creating a video of the performance for posterity. “This was a great project for kids to appreciate arts and music,” says Richard, who is concerned about children’s lack of exposure to classical music these days.
However, what really gets him excited is fashion. As a child he recalls helping his grandmother in her fabric store, laying out the patterns for cutting. Over the years, he’s worked extensively with retired Ottawa designer Richard Robinson, and these days loves to support up-and-coming fashion designers. “They often cannot afford professional photography to showcase their work,” he explains, so he offers them his services for free. “I aim to produce something unique to give them a competitive edge.”
In his dark Chelsea studio, lined with grey barn wood, mannequins and several vintage props, Richard turns his eagle eye to local talent. “I think we need to shed light in Ottawa,” he says. “We have lots of talent here, but it’s just not known. We need to show the potential.”
