A Hobo's Soul

I didn't know Ben Cutshall, but after watching the tribute his station put together upon his passing, I really wish I had. He was the chief photojournalist for KFMB; a diminutive man who cast a large shadow across the San Diego area. Starting in March of 1964, the Vietnam combat veteran strapped a camera to his back and waged a different type of warfare: TV News, that blithering, banal form of communication that robs so many people of their optimism and dignity. Not Ben Cutshall. For more than four decades he made a habit of being at the right place at the right time, recording images both heartwarming and horrific. But he was also a gifted writer, a gentle comic and an ambassador of class and dignityin a business sorely lacking either of those traits. Those younger photogs lucky enough to learn under him can't say enough good things about this wizardly lenslinger, which, if you know photogs, is high praise indeed. Rest In Peace.