Like many parents of school-age children, Waterloo artist Marie-Claude Pelchat has seen her share of bad school photos with boring backgrounds and forced smiles.

That’s why, as an established photographer, she reinvented the school portrait. “Simply telling them to ‘say cheese’ is not going to capture the soul and spirit of the child,” said Pelchat, who moved her family to Waterloo from Sherbrooke, Que. three years ago. “I did supply teaching, and it was through that work that I discovered my strengths lie in connecting with kids.”

Pelchat recognizes that, much like teaching, taking high-quality school portraits demands a mix of enthusiasm, dedication, knowledge, authority and a desire to make a difference in children’s lives. “A school portrait is something to treasure,” said Pelchat, whose style of taking school photos is relaxed, using both natural light and a large floodlight. “When I was young, I was really shy, so I can understand a child can be that way too when having their picture taken. So I work to bring those unique expressions and energy out of them by making it fun, and I tell them that if we work together we can make something that is cool.”

Clearly, Pelchat approaches school photography from an artistic perspective as her innovative idea to include a few of the child’s classmates, slightly blurred in the background of the portrait, is a creative one. “It’s kind of contemporary,” she said. “My idea of putting kids in the background was to avoid the fake background you usually see in school pictures, like fake library books as a backdrop.

“Parents are given a choice to either have their child photographed with classmates in the background, or not.”

It was the KW Bilingual School in Waterloo that first provided Pelchat with the opportunity to hone her craft in school photography. “The principal, Michel Poinot, took a chance on me and trying something different,” said Pelchat, who had to carve out a new life for herself as an artist in Waterloo, leaving 600 clients behind in her native Quebec. “In Quebec, 70 per cent of my clientele were pregnant women, because I also do maternity photos. And like children, the connection there is important. As a woman who has had children herself, I could relate and understand that in pregnancy you can sometimes feel like an elephant. But all pregnant women are beautiful — they are ‘habitée’, which means someone lives inside of them.”

Whether she’s photographing women during pregnancy, or children for a school portrait, Pelchat is dedicated to capturing the essence of her subjects, and is willing to go the extra mile to get it right. “When taking school photos, I take anywhere from five to 40 pictures per child,” she explained. “With the little ones, I talk to them about ice cream or anything that helps them forget that they are posing. Around the age of seven or eight, some kids become self-conscious about the fact that they are posing, so it’s up to me to work harder to help them feel better about themselves.:

Pelchat also takes the time to help parents make good clothing choices for their kids being photographed by sending out a note beforehand.

What many parents may not realize is that Pelchat sometimes spends a great deal of time touching up the photos. “I will repair things like slightly whitening the eyes, or fixing a stain on a shirt,” she explained.

But more than anything, Pelchat says the art of photographing children is capturing those moments that reflect their unique personalities.

“Our bodies say so much, so that is why the positions of the children in the photos are all different. I want to really show something about their personality in each and every one. Children are this big ball of expression and raw emotion, and as a photographer, you just have to go and get it.”

LaTribune (Sherbrooke,Qc)
Actualités,mercredi,25juin2003,p.A2
Un trésor au centre-ville Quirion, René-Charles
À travers sa lentille, la photographe Marie-Claude Pelchat a ce don de transcender la beauté étincelante des femmes enceintes. Elle leur offre un moment magique que peu de futures mamans se permettraient si elles étaient la seule vedette. La beauté du concept "Nombril en folie", c'est que le bedon à quelques semaines de laisser sortir bébé devient l'élément central de la séance. Et quelle séance! Niché dans un loft de bois franc, le studio de photo de l'artiste devient un lieu unique. Un endroit du contact intime d'une mère avec son bébé. Lumières essentielles à la photo, musique appropriée, décor sobre et vue magnifique sur Sherbrooke suffisent pour créer cette ambiance particulière. Atmosphère magique, moment de rencontre privilégié entre une mère et son enfant à naître. Comme papa, je me suis facilement laissé prendre au jeu. J'ai admiré le spectacle et accompagné ma blonde pour quelques tendres clichés. Toutefois c'est la maman, mais avant tout la femme, qui demeure au centre de l'attention. Tantôt décontractée, tantôt plus osée, accroupie, debout ou à genoux, chacune des poses que la maman adopte devient exclusive, particulière. Et si Dame Nature daigne collaborer un tant soit peu, les surprenants décors des rues sherbrookoises juxtaposés à la lumière naturelle contribuent à rehausser la variété d'images. Découvert au hasard d'un cadeau de shower, ce trésor du centre-ville, ce concept particulier permet de valoriser, d'énergiser, de divertir, de couper le quotidien des derniers moments d'attente avant la naissance. Je n'ai jamais été enceinte et je ne le serai jamais. La nature le veut ainsi. Alors, mon expérience se résume au vécu de ma blonde et des quelques lectures dans les livres et revues à la couverture de poupon. Cependant, je peux dire que ce trésor découvert dans les hauteurs de la rue Wellington a donné un second souffle aux quelques semaines qu'il reste avant l'arrivée de bébé. Non pas que ma blonde n'est pas bien avec un petit être à l'intérieur d'elle, que je ne cesse de lui répéter la vérité de sa beauté comme femme enceinte ou qu'elle ait une plus grosse bedaine que les autres. Cependant, de considérer que malgré la trentaine de livres en plus, elle peut quand même avoir l'air d'une top modèle, l'a ravie. Marie-Claude Pelchat offre comme présent à la future maman la possibilité de se sentir encore plus belle. L'occasion de garder un souvenir impérissable de l'aboutissement de ces neuf mois. J'ose maintenant imaginer les sourires de bébé lorsqu'elle découvrira celui de ses parents encadré à travers l'éléphant rose, la grenouille molle, les insectes fantastiques et l'abeille musicale...
 rquirion@latribune.qc.ca © 2003 La Tribune (Sherbrooke, Qc). Tous droits réservés.