The Ron de Vries Award of Excellence for Photojournalism

Algonquin College’s Journalism program has created the Ron de Vries Award of Excellence for Photojournalism in honour of Ottawa photographer Ron de Vries who died in August of 2019 while on his way home from pursuing some of his greatest passions – a day out exploring the wilderness in his kayak with a camera. Ron was rarely without a camera and always pushed his creativity and technical expertise no matter what he was photographing.

Ron was a graduate of the Photography program at Fanshawe College in 1980 and a graduate of the Architectural Technician program at Algonquin College in 1976. Ron worked for several years as a darkroom technician and then as a bio medical/forensic photographer at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario before pursuing a freelance career in 1985, beginning as a wedding photographer and opening a portrait studio.

Over the years, he worked with many prominent photo agencies, including Getty Images NY, Rogers Media, and Plesman Publications of Toronto. Ron also freelanced for The Globe & Mail and shot for Canadian magazines such as Cottage Life, Canadian Business Magazine, Profit, Financial Post, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, The Medical Post and Dialogue Magazine.

Canadian government clients included the Privy Council Office, Statistics Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency, Industry Canada, Correctional Service Canada, Natural Resources Canada, PWGSC (Public Works), the Senate and Foreign Affairs. His works adorn the walls of a dozen Canadian embassies, and he photographed many corporate, architect, and construction firms. One of his main clients for nearly 15 years was Comment, a construction news magazine published by the Ottawa Construction Association.

Aside from being an incredibly active photographer, Ron was always keen to teach others his craft. For nearly 10 years, he taught as a Continuing Education Photography Instructor for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and with Algonquin College, delivering courses such as Basic Photography, Darkroom Techniques and Advanced use of Flash workshops. He also taught two semesters for Algonquin’s Photography program, delivering courses in Advanced Darkroom Techniques, and a Photography Theory class that covered optics, chemistry, and general advanced photography theory.

Ron’s quirky sense of humour always put both students and photographic subjects at ease, but he also had an excellent eye for composition and lighting. He was never afraid to try something new.

He developed a great talent for using Adobe Photoshop to stylize some of his work which he showcased at a local art gallery and he became adept at time lapse photography – from 2012 to 2018, Ron was the site photographer for Parliament Hill’s West Block Rehabilitation Project in which he managed seven time lapse camera systems to capture weekly restoration progress.

Ron was a huge inspiration to many people, not only for his expertise in photography, but also for his love of nature, environmental causes, and compassion and generosity towards others. It is fitting that this award will honour his name and his memory will carry on through the dreams of future students.

To view his work, visit; http://www.rondevries.com/