An Interview with Gustave Pellerin – Former CBC Cameraman

Recently I interviewed Gustave Pellerin – now retired – but a CBC camerman for over 35 years.

Gustave has photographed some of the most interesting people of our times(see below) and that’s still the type of photography he prefers.

How did you get started in photography?

I borrowed my mother’s box camera when I was 15 years old. It peaked my curiosity about what it could do. I tried shooting a bowl of goldfish – it wouldn’t focus and I wanted to understand why.

What was the next step?

I enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography course by correspondence when I was 17 – because there were no courses available in Canada in the early 1950′s. It took me a few years to complete it but during that time I walked into my first photography store – in Ottawa. I asked to see their 4X5 press camera, a Crown Graphic – and the next day I ended up getting a job starting at $35 per week. I stayed for 5 years and finished my correspondence course too. While there I met and befriended Sir Peter Ustinov and many of the football players from the Ottawa Roughrider’s Football team.

How did you make your way to working for the CBC?

I took a series of jobs in Ottawa including news event coverage with Le Droit and I spent 5 years with Dominion Wide, eventually becoming head of the film department.  It was here that I did all the film processing related to CBC, politics and politicians. Then in 1966, Larry Henderson, a CTV reporter invited me to travel to Vietnam to film the war. And that’s where it started.

Tell me about that experience.

I spent a month between the cities of Hue and Saigon – much of it hanging upside down out of a plane with a rope around my waist – filming. I spent time in the jungle, with snipers all around. I saw torture and things no person should ever see.

Where else have you visited?

I was in East Pakistan before it became Bangladesh; in India with Indira Ghandi – documenting how to control an assembly of 1,000,000 people; in Calcutta filming refugees; in Mogadishu documenting the flow of aid from Canada.

I understand you spent a lot of time with Trudeau.

We liked each other and he would ask me to join him on press trips. One of the most memorable ones was canoeing the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories – and scrambling to set up difficult shots with heavy equipment.

Who have you photographed on behalf of CBC?

Some of the famous people include: Desmond Tutu, Roy Rogers, Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro, Princess Di and Prince Charles, Maurice Chevalier, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, Governor General Vanier, Nikita Khrushchev and Haile Selassie.

What’s the most unusual food you’ve eaten when traveling?

Goat’s eye and brains in Lebanon.

What’s the least favourite country of the ones you have visited?

Guyana – back when I was there. It was swampy, buggy and rife with violence.

What type of photography do you prefer to do and why?

Portrait photography is definitely my preference. There’s no end to it, so it’s always interesting. It’s exciting, diversified and fun – plus I’m a people person. You need to use psychology to get the best picture. You can bring the soul of the person to life.

What kind of camera do you use right now?

An Olympus E -S20 and three lenses – 14-42mm, 40-150mm and a 35mm macro. My dream camera would be a Canon G7 with a fancy lens – to complement what I already have.

When I ran a studio I had upwards of 10 cameras but I’m just trying to keep it simple now.

Thank you for your time Gustave. If you have questions – please forward them to me and I’ll get answers from Gustave.

Leigh McAdam

HikeBikeTravel

Photo Credit: Gustave Pellerin – for all photos in this post.

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