Freeman Patterson

Freeman Wilford Patterson, CM ONB (born September 25, 1937) is a Canadian nature photographer and writer born at Long Reach, New Brunswick. He currently lives at Shamper's Bluff, New Brunswick.

He earned a B.A. from Acadia University and was granted a fellowship to study at Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. While in New York, he studied photography and design under Dr. Helen Manzer. After completing three years there, he taught for three more years in Edmonton before finally deciding to pursue photography full-time.

Patterson has authored several books on photographic techniques and theory, including Photography for the Joy of It (1977), Photography and the Art of Seeing (1979) and Photography of Natural Things (1982). These books were issued in revised formats in 2006.

Patterson has also authored books centered on his nature photography, such as Namaqualand: Garden of the Gods (1984), Portraits of Earth (1987), In a Canadian Garden (1989), The Last Wilderness: Images of the Canadian Wild (1990) and One Planet, One Man (1994). In 2001, Patterson and co-author Andre Gallant, produced Photo Impressionism and The Subjective Image.

Together with photographer and friend Colla Swart, he has hosted many photographic workshops in Kamieskroon, Northern Cape, South Africa.

Patterson has been recognized by numerous national and international groups, including:

In the 1980s, Patterson contracted Hepatitis B. His condition deteriorated until, in 1999, he was identified as a candidate for liver transplantation. In January 2000 he received a donor liver, however the transplant was unsuccessful. For 5 days he was kept on life support until a second organ was located, though there was by this point some debate among his doctors about his viability as a candidate, given the low probability of success. After the second operation concluded, he was kept in a medically induced coma for several weeks, followed by years of convalescence at home. He has since made a complete recovery and is, himself, a registered organ donor.

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