Lionel Francis Stevenson (1939-2017) was born in New Glasgow, P.E.I. He purchased his first camera in Charlottetown at the age of eight. By the early 1960s, Stevenson was working commercially in Toronto, and was already showing fine art photography in 1964, beginning with an exhibition at Hart House, University of Toronto. In 1967, he was named Canadian Professional Photographer of the Year. Later, he became a darkroom assistant to the American photographer Berenice Abbott, whom he described as his mentor. Stevenson recalls it was Abbott who taught him how to capture a highly personal form of photographic expression, as much through printing technique as through selection of the initial shot. Stevenson was also influenced by the work of the French photographer Eugène Atget, and the American Ansel Adams. Stevenson is best known for his portraits of islanders as well as island landscapes, street scenes, and architectural subjects. He worked mainly in black-and-white. He was the author of several books and the subject of several solo exhibitions. He died in Charlottetown.