Some days I take photographs.

 

Other days I work on films.

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I was born in Montreal in 1979 and early enough looked to tell stories through lenses. I completed my BA in Communication Studies at Concordia University in 2000, specializing in Film Production.

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I then set out for Australia for a year to accomplish one of my lifelong goals in my then young life: to see the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I returned to North America to experience a few years of professional drought, before training in cinematography as a camera assistant on major motion picture and television sets.

 

When the actors and writers' strikes in 2006-2007 in the American film industry interrupted that training, it inadvertently redirected my career towards photography. I worked as a photo editor for Nicolas Ruel before definitively specializing in action photography.

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Some of my favourite career moments include: shooting Egyptian archaeology for the History Channel in 2009, almost getting killed before producing a front-page article for the National Post (Canada) about the Egyptian revolution, and covering the last four Paralympics Games : London 2012 Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

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In 2014, I finally made good on my promise to direct films by making a 90-minute documentary titled Sport: Le Revers de La Médaille (The Harder They Fall) for Arte, earning a nomination with my co-director for a Laurier de l’Audiovisuel in the process. My second film, also coproduced by Arte, comes out in 2025. Adieu l'Opéra is about three Paris Opera Ballet dancers facing their last days on stage, and the uncertain aftermath of their illustrious careers.

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Today, I dedicate most of my time to the Paris Opera Ballet and to major French and Canadian sports federations. 

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The world is a very small place. I hope my work will have done its share to make it even smaller.

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Yonathan Kellerman