Mike, thank you for your hail and farewell to Gary. I just want to add
that while I will miss the scenes he will never now be able to capture
on film, I will miss Gary Benson the man one hell of a lot more.
Fred Frailey
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: SPORRS: Photographer Gary J. Benson dies
Author: PC:[EMAIL PROTECTED] at INTERNET
Date: 12/19/97 3:49 AM
Professional and rail photographer Gary J. Benson died on December 15th from
complications following a kidney transplant. He was 42.
Gary was a railfan, though he was very diverse in his photographic interests.
He liked being trackside, and he approached railroad photography with a
genuine enthusiasm. He travelled with his wife Susan, and both of them spent
months at a time on the road. Gary's style was to compose and shoot the photo
with the train slightly distant, to make it part of the overall scene. Gary
also understood the use of varied focal lengths and compositions and fill
flash, and he was also an early believer in Fuji films. In the past ten
years, he shot nothing but Fuji unless specifically requested otherwise. Gary
liked extreme elevations, and often rented a helicopter on his voyages. And
he was a stickler for what he wanted -- if the light wasn't right one day,
he'd be back the next. But the sun didn't always have to be out. One of my
favorites from him is a pacing shot of a scabby KCS SD40-2 in flat light seen
through the passing scrubs and shrubs of a Louisiana landscape on page 135 of
Rolling Thunder. And I circled the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans for two
hours one afternoon trying to find his angle on that massive structure -- he
later admitted that he shot it from the top of a hospital parking garage.
Gary made his living with photography, and he perhaps sold more railroad
photos than many railfan shooters who have been doing it much longer. Gary's
work appeared in Trains Magazine and Railway Age, in addition to countless
advertisements and annual reports. Gary did the paid rail photographer a
service by insisting that everyone sell photos to the industry at a scale
price. He and his wife Susan produced two books in the rail field: "Rolling
Thunder" from W.W. Norton in 1991, and "The Art of Railroad Photography"
published by Kalmbach in 1993. He produced a third book, called "In The
Irons: Showjumping, Dressage and Eventing" in 1994, that depicted equestrian
competition. Gary's work often accompanied Fred Frailey's writing, as it did
in Rolling Thunder and in Trains' features.
Gary was a friend to any photographer who asked his help, and I consider my
trackside time spent with him and Susan quite special. One of those photos
made it into his Kalmbach book. Not being a locomotive fan, Gary saw
railroading differently than most railfans. Said Greg McDonnell: "... we have
his work to remember him by." And Ted Benson: "His is a vision lost too soon."
And Fred Frailey: "... a sweet, gentle giant of a guy ... whose work had a
definate style."
Gary is survived by his wife and business partner Susan who is holding a
service at the Benson home in Bernardsville, N.J., on Friday 12/19. Cards can
be sent to P.O. Box 29, Peapack, N.J. 07977. Also, I will be forwarding any
e-mail comments to the Benson family; send them to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Donations should be directed to: Morristown Memorial Hospital, CAPD Patient
Fund, Attn. Carol Cahill, 100 Madison Avenue, Morristown, NJ 07960.
....Mike Del Vecchio
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