Lorraine Monk was a Canadian photographer and driving force behind the establishment of the Canadian Museum of Photography in Toronto as well as executive producer of the National Film Board of Canada. What is most important about Monk is that her own work very much took a back seat while she encouraged and commissioned others during her life, especially through the publications she oversaw. Born in 1922 she died in 2020 aged 98.

Monk presents PM Pierre Trudeau with a copy of "Canada - A Year of the Land"

She started work with the Canadian government writing the history of the Canadian Navy during WW2 before joining the National Film Board of Canada where she quickly became executive producer for photo services. Within that role she established the first museum of contemporary photography in Ottawa and set up touring programmes, both within Canada and internationally. Moving to Toronto in 1980 she then set about establishing the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography with satellite museums in other towns.

Through her career, Monk is credited with having commissioned photographs that detail the landscapes, people, and culture of the country, including books such as Canada: A Year of the Land, Call Them Canadians, and Canada with Love. The photography projects that she commissioned during her role with the Still Photography Division would not only contribute to the cultural documentation of the country, but would also encourage a whole generation of photographers. Over 160,000 photographs made at her direction now rest in the national collection. To celebrate the bicentennial of the USA Monk oversaw the production of a major publication, "Between Friends", a 262 page photographic book showing the life, places and people from both sides of their shared border. She presented the book on behalf of the Canadian Government to US President Gerald Ford at a ceremony in Washington in 1977.

She was among the first to recognise that "photographs were not merely vehicles of information or reportage but a means of personal expression and a collectible art form". Among the photographers she encouraged and supported during her life Thaddeus Holownia, John Max and Nina Raginsky. People like Lorraine Monk are invaluable to photography as they provide an organisational background, links between national and international organisations and often links to sponsorship that creates opportunities for photography to thrive.