This morning as I hurriedly loaded my camera gear in our car for an early photo shoot, I reached into our mail box for the Prince George Citizen and had to sit down, as the tears flowed for my friend Dave Mah.
It was difficulty reading about Dave in today's Citizen, because Ted Clarke described the Dave Mah we all knew and 'he was indeed one of a kind.'
Dave reminds me of my late friend Barry Hing in Vancouver, whom I met in 1967 when we were in a marine radio officer's course. Like Dave, Barry had a similar friendly personality and was also an efficient photographer. Barry also worked on the alarm system at our University Hospital of Northern BC.
The last time I saw Dave, we were together taking photos at the Vaisakhi celebrations outside the Sikh temple, where he had his head covered in reverence of the occasion.
Some time ago, Dave took a portrait of me and he smiled when I told him it was cropped and used as my identification photo at the Canada Winter Games.
He said "you think they will recognize you Vince?" I replied "sure, because you took the picture."
A while ago, I wrote a letter to the Citizen about a photo Dave took. It was a sports event with a ball just above a player's finger with the words Spalding in perfect horizontal position. I mentioned, knowing Dave's efficiency in photography, I doubt that the photo was doctored.
Not taking away from Brent Braaten or James Doyle who are just as efficient, but I was able to recognize Dave's photos in The Citizen, even before reading the caption. He had a unique professional style, that shows pride in his work.
Dave Mah was indeed one of kind and I will miss him. I was praying for his recovery and looked forward to him returning to The Citizen.
Rest in peace, my friend, and send us some photos of your future travels.
Vince Ramcharran
Prince George
