Former Journal photographer Ken Orr left lasting legacy of images over long career
Late Journal photographer had a passion for his work
Ken Orr was a just a kid in Vancouver when he bought his first camera, a Kodak Brownie he’d spotted in a comic book advertisement.
By the time he died of cancer on Feb. 22, the former Edmonton Journal photographer had collected more than half a century’s worth of images, many capturing significant moments in Canadian history.
A stint in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the early 1950s kick-started Orr’s vocation. Stationed in Germany as an aircraft frame technician, Orr found a great supply of affordable equipment.
“I bought cameras like crazy — quality cameras for $15 with new features,” Orr said in an interview not long before he died. That led to a $95 New York Institute of Photography correspondence course, which he completed in two years.
He was transferred to Bagotville, Que., in 1955, where he became a military photographer. A year later, he returned to civilian life in Vancouver.
There, Orr found his first newspaper job working for the Columbian.
Back then, news photographers used film sheet Speed Graphic cameras that required a lot of handling and lighting.
“My accordion-like bellows in my camera had light leaks ruining some of my pictures,” said Orr.
In 1957, he got on staff at the Vancouver Sun and made his name photographing news events and prominent people such as B.C. premier W.A.C. Bennett and movie star Jerry Lewis. But one famous subject got away. On Jan. 29, 1958, Orr was assigned to cover Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, during a two-day stopover. It was a rainy day and he waited outside a venue with other media for hours before the Queen Mother arrived.
“I had trouble with my electronic lights, even got an electric shock when testing them out, so I opted for a flashbulb, the size of today’s light bulbs,” said Orr. “When the motorcade pulled up and the Queen Mother got out, I pressed the
edmontonjournal. com Journal photographer Greg Southam pays tribute to his former colleague with a video showing Ken’s work of more than five decades. edmontonjournal.com/videos
trigger and this huge light flash, like an atomic bomb, shocked everyone around me, including the dignitaries and security. But she never wavered.” The picture didn’t turn out. Orr was one of the casualties in a massive layoff at the Vancouver Sun on Feb. 14, 1962. He soon headed east and freelanced for the Toronto Star, then landed a job with the Edmonton Journal.
“Ken was a great news photographer and very independent,” said former photo editor Dave Colville.
One of Orr’s first Journal assignments was to cover the official opening of the TransCanada Highway at Rogers Pass, capturing prime minister John Diefenbaker tamping the last square foot of asphalt on the newly paved road.
In 1964, Orr left the Journal for a startup photography position with the Vancouver Times, but was part of another layoff in 1965. He returned to the Journal soon after.
“I remember him coming back from Vancouver with his Sunbeam Alpine sports car, minus the convertible top, which he’d removed for ‘more speed,’ and having to take reporters to assignments in freezing weather in January,” said former photographer and photo editor Michael Dean.
In 1966, Orr’s passion for exploring other photography mediums cost him his job at the Journal when he was caught shooting movie footage for the CBC on his off time. He continued shooting for CBC for the next nine years.
Orr always had a burning ambition to work for Life magazine, and in 1967 flew to New York to apply for a job.
“I was brash, I walked right up to the Life magazine assignment editor and demanded to be hired,” said Orr. He was politely refused, twice.
He returned to the Journal in 1978, hired by photo editor Michael Vann.
“I had to hire him because of his reputation,” said Vann. “He was a great sports photographer and could be counted on to get the job done.”
Former chief photographer Jim Cochrane praised Orr as a team player with a passion for new cameras. “I bought a lot of used equipment from Kenny back then, including an underwater Nikonos camera he bought after damaging his cameras in a rainstorm,” said Cochrane.
In 1987, Orr contributed spectacular aerial photos of the path of Edmonton’s “Black Friday” tornado, shot from a small airplane flying over the city, no small feat considering the unstable weather.
“There wasn’t much time to shoot, we had to come back because of more tornado warnings,” he said. “We were thoroughly soaked but as soon as things cleared we were back in the air and flew to Beaumont over stricken homes, and then over the south-side power lines and the Byers Transport yard.”
Former Journal sports and business writer Ray Turchansky remembers Orr as a caring and interested photographer. “He asked them (interview subjects) about what they were doing and why and he elicited more than a few quotes that reporters used,” said Turchansky.
During his third “tour” at the Journal, Orr, who had been married twice before, one day in 1981 met Pat Fujaros of the classified department in the staff cafeteria. “I noticed her from across the room and asked one of her co-workers to introduce us,” said the lovestruck photographer. Their first date was for clam chowder at the Chateau Lacombe.
Their marriage would last the rest of his life.
“We were inexplicably bound, we always wanted to see each other,” said Pat, who had been married once before. “Ken was his own person and marched to his own drummer but was very different around me, gentle and kind-hearted.”
As photo editor, I remember Ken’s passionate enthusiasm for every picture he took. He would gush about his pictures while still developing his film. He always had great stories to tell and was a great Journal ambassador.
Orr retired from the Journal in 1995, but continued freelancing for the next 17 years.
“He thought of his life work as an important way to leave a lasting legacy through pictures,” said Pat. “He strove for that special connection with people he photographed and was very proud of his profession.”