Christian Lalonde

“Triple Master of WPPI” photographer, Christian Lalonde, has been working professionally in his field since graduating in 1996. Specializing in commercial photography (food, magazine editorials, fashion, architecture, advertising), he launched his own studio in 1997. In 2001, a mere five years after graduation, he was twice named Commercial Photographer of the Year by the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC). To date, he has won over 50 national and international prizes and awards. Having won more than a dozen awards from WPPI, he is a judge, since 2007, for its annual photography contests.

Christian’s flair for composition and eye for colour make his services in very high demand: he has worked for clients such as the Bank of Canada, National Geographic, Ontario Tourism, IBM, Estée Lauder, Sony, Readers Digest, Crown Plaza hotels, McCain Foods, Costco Canada (with whom he has collaborated for fifteen years), IceBreaker, the Rendez-vous de la francophonie, Tourisme Ontario, The Redblacks (CFL), Fury FC, and many more. He has photographed several recipe books including the “Le Petit Larousse du Chocolat” published in 5 languages by Larousse publications & Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. The number of clients that come back to work with him year after year is a testament to the quality of his work.

As the author of the photo that is seen on the back of the Canadian five-dollar bill (“Children at play”) from the Canadian journey series (2001-2006), Christian is the photographer with the most frequently published photo in Canada, if not the world, since some 3.5 billion of those five-dollar banknotes were printed. He was also later tasked with photographing one of the elements (communications tower) on the back of the 100-dollar bill from the same series.

Christian was recently featured in a CBC/Radio-Canada documentary “Dans l’ombre de…”.

Christian Lalonde taught photography from 1997 to 1999. He is now a sought-after speaker who makes presentations each year to both novice and experienced colleagues. He regularly offers seminars, in Canada and abroad, particularly with PPOC, WPPI, and in Europe, including during the « I Am Photographer Festival » in Estonia. He also judges the WPPI photo Awards, The World Cup of Photography and the Loupe Awards.

Since the launch of Photolux, his photography studio, Christian welcomes, each year, one or two photography student trainees, with whom he generously shares his knowledge and experience. He has thus been a mentor to more than 30 young student photographers. He also takes time out of his busy schedule, every year, to go talk to students at his alma mater to encourage them to persevere and strive for perfection.

Christian’s true passion for photography makes him eager to share with colleagues, but also to include clients fully in the creative process. As a photographer, he is unafraid to explain his creative decisions and demystify the artistic process of photography.