@anonymous 5:

Thanks! Despite his tremendous talents as a Canadian designer I think Arnaud would be the first one to admit his transition to photography was not any easy one.

I was more than happy to have published some of his earliest magazine covers and provided him with the necessary fund to develop his fine art skills further.

Angelo, I think you added perspective in a kind way, and I appreciate your added insight into this great Canadian artist.

@Emily, thank you for speaking out, I felt the exact same way as you did after reading Angelo's comment — but I could not find the proper words, and I think you did quite well.

I was lucky enough to meet Arnaud on a couple occasions, and Emily is 100% correct — he was intelligent, sensitive, and spirited. Arnaud, you will be missed.

Sorry Emily:

Just setting the record straight. Arnaud was indeed a true talent and he will be missed.

Angelo, I find your comment outrageous and distasteful considering the circumstances. We should be reflecting on Arnaud's life and the tremendous body of work he left behind, not squabbling over supposedly misplaced credit. Whether or not you launched his career is beside the point. He was an extremely talented artist (as well as designer) — intelligent, sensitive, and spirited — who honed his craft and art for several years. He will be dearly missed.

Various erroneous reports credit Arnaud's success with this or that from his dealer when the truth is that I met him at OCA in 1969 when he was starting to learn how to use the camera with his "doorway series."

We often talked about his latest progress when he came to my studio on Queen Street in Toronto. When he came up with his serial portrait concepts I could not publish nor get them published due to the cost in the small press networks that I was involved with. While worthy, Maggs was struggling financially and aesthetically, his work was going no where in the mid 70s. However he came up to see me at Maclean's for some freelance work, Andrew Smith and I gave him some cover shoots. Later, I could not give him more "bread and butter" work on news/political stories because he refused to use a flash and insistent on using only natural light. The covers he shot for Maclean's made him an instant success with other art directors. Shortly thereafter both Louis Fishauf and Margo Brown asked me for his number and others began to take him seriously as a photographer. Meanwhile, his Fine Art work did not take off until the early 80s but he was able to pay some bills.

He initially began working as a designer in the 50s and later as an art director for over 20 years before picking up a camera. I was saddened to hear of his passing.