Louise Abbott is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker who makes her home in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, but travels frequently on assignment. She specializes in documenting the history and contemporary life of fishing and farming communities in eastern Canada and has investigated environmental issues that affect these communities. Abbott has published feature stories and/or photographs in numerous newspapers and magazines. She has participated in exhibitions in Canada and abroad, and her photographs are found in several public collections, including the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography and the National Archives of Canada.

She is the author of three books: The Coast Way: A Portrait of the English on the Lower North Shore of the St. Lawrence; The French Shore: Newfoundland's Port-au-Port Peninsula, and A Country So Wild and Grand: A Travel Guide to the Lower North Shore of Quebec. She has written and directed three films: The History of Nunavik, The Pinnacle and the Poet, and Alexander Walbridge: The Visionary of Mystic. She also wrote the script for The Empty Net and the narration for The Mystery of the Blue Whale.

Abbott has received arts awards from the Canada Council and the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs. She has also received fellowships from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the George Drew Memorial Trust Fund. In 2002 she won both the Norman Kucharsky Award for Cultural and Artistic Journalism given by the Periodical Writers Association of Canada and the Greg Clark Internship Award given by the Canadian Journalism Foundation.