Biography

V. Tony Hauser, C.M. is renowned as one of Canada’s leading portrait photographers. His distinctive portraits demonstrate his innate ability to communicate with people. He strives to reveal each sitter’s essence and energy with his camera. His unique approach to the photographic portrait results in images that illustrate a vision and talent that have earned Hauser an international reputation.

Most recently Hauser made his first foray into the world of motion pictures. He initiated the making of a documentary on the creation of choreographer Peggy Baker’s contemporary dance production “who we are in the dark''. As Executive Producer and co-director (with filmmaker Ellen Tolmie) the film “DANCING DARKNESS” was premiered in 2020 at New York’s Dance on Camera film festival, and in Montreal’s le FIFA (Le Festival International du Film sur l’Art) in 2021.

In 2019 Hauser was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his various photographic contributions. 

Although he is often required to create colour images for modern applications such as corporate websites and business publications, he has honed his craft as a specialist in black and white printing techniques. His silver and platinum photographs are included in permanent collections of the National Archives of Canada, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Stratford Festival, and numerous board rooms and private collections around the world.

In 2006, the National Arts Centre commissioned Hauser to photograph 50 Hungarian-Canadians on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. This collection, entitled New Lives, was exhibited in both Canada and throughout Europe. All photographs from this collection were then donated into the Canadian Archives, where they are permanently housed.

Hauser’s photographs have been exhibited at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, Brookfield Place, Toronto,  Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, The Banff Centre in Alberta, the University of California in Los Angeles, The Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, the Art Gallery at Canada House in London, England, the Hamburg State Opera in Germany, the National Museum of Culture in Quito, Ecuador, as well as in New York and Santa Fe.

His work has been celebrated in publications as diverse as American Photographer, View Camera, England’s Photography Magazine and Hong Kong’s Photo Pictorial, as well as Maclean’s and Dance Connection magazines in Canada.

Outside of his professional work, Hauser is an original member of PhotoSensitive, a non-profit volunteer organization exploring how photography can contribute to social justice. PhotoSensitive’s goal is to harness the power of the camera to enrich, enlighten and educate Canadians on issues of social significance.

As a humanitarian and ardent activist, Hauser travels the world to focus his lens on social injustice and he collaborates with charities to effect change through the power of image. He is also a passionate anti-landmines activist. Hauser has spoken against landmines in universities across Canada and the United States, as well as in Slovenia, England, Hong Kong and Spain. His exhibition entitled “Living with Land Mines” features portraits of Cambodian children who have survived a land mine accident.