Freeman Patterson is one of the preeminent photographers in Canada. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art in 1975 and appointed to the Order of Canada in 1985. Among his many awards are the gold medal for photographic excellence by the National Film Board of Canada, the Hon. EFIAP of the Fédération internationale de l'Art Photographique (Berne, Switzerland(, and the gold medal for distinguished contribution to photography from the Canadian Association for Photographic Art. He currently lives in Shamper's Bluff, New Brunswick, near his childhood home.