David Mah never went far without his camera and could not believe his good fortune when he spotted two young grizzly bears frolicking by the side of the highway at Ptarmigan Creek provincial park near Crescent Spur.
The photographer stopped his truck and got out, holding his camera with long lens attached while the bears remained oblivious, swatting each other with powerful paws and making menacing but playful open-mouth gestures to reveal razor-sharp teeth.
Dave snapped away at his shutter for as long as he could before the impressive animals trotted off into the forest. He came into the Prince George Citizen office that day, about a year ago, to show his former co-workers in the newsroom the beauty of nature he had captured. The responses he received were reassurance he made the right choice of careers.
The previous winter, his time as a newspaper photographer was interrupted by cancer, an insidious predator more pervasive, more likely to strike fear into human life than a surprise encounter with a bear. Dave was fighting lung cancer and he knew the odds of survival were not in his favour.
His cancer prompted him to leave his home in Prince George, where he had lived since he was five, so he could live under the care of his parents in Calgary. For the better part of two years, he followed the advice of his doctors and the staff at the Baker Cancer Clinic in Calgary while he underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Despite his pain, he remained optimistic he would somehow recover and get back the vibrant life he used to have so he could return to the city he loved.
But in Dave's case, there would be no recovery. His condition grew steadily worse. He was hospitalized in severe distress two weekends ago and almost succumbed, unable to breathe on his own, but managed to recover. But on Friday he suffered a relapse, his ravaged lungs no longer able to function. He died peacefully in his hospital bed early Saturday afternoon, 10 days shy of his 55th birthday, surrounded by his mother Esther, father Bud, their cousins, and his best friend, Tom Kurhinen, who arrived from Prince George an hour before he passed away.
"I'm gutted," said Kurhinen. "He had his quirks but you could never be angry at him. He had his infectious smile, he always had my back and he would there if you needed him. He could never say no to anyone. If he needed somebody, he hardly ever asked for anybody's help, he was very selfless, and he had countless friends."
One of them was Chuck Nisbett, a longtime Citizen photographer and now pressman, who saw in Dave's photos a willingness to go out of his own comfort zone to get the best shot. The close professional relationship Dave built and maintained with the RCMP, Prince George Fire Rescue and other authority figures allowed him direct access to crime scenes, fires and other emergency situations which might otherwise be denied.
Dave's shot of an RCMP officer aiming his handgun as his service dog leaps through an open car door to pin down a suspect and foil an attempted carjacking in September 2013 won a B.C. Community and Yukon Newspaper Association news photo silver medal award.
"He loved to shoot wildlife and the outdoors and he was a brilliant news photographer," said Nisbett, who visited Dave a few weeks ago in Calgary. "In news photography you've got to be able to handle the situation and keep calm and deal with the people, and he could do all that quite easily and take fantastic shots as he was doing it. You've got to have the trust of the first responders so they allow you to go where you need to go to get the pictures and know that you're not going to mess up the scene, and he was able to get the people to feel that way. He had what it took.
"He found some fantastic features and was able to keep his eye open all the time, always able to see what was out there and what was unusual or different and be able to catch it right away. A lot of people aren't comfortable with getting their picture taken and you are directly taking their picture in a lot of difficult situations and some people are able to put people at ease and he could do that. He touched a lot of people in Prince George."
In his years as a desker in the Citizen newsroom and as managing editor, Neil Godbout had the chance to work with Dave and always looked forward to seeing how well his photographs complemented the stories staff had written for the paper.
"Dave was one of those photographers who couldn't wait to get out in the field because there was always a good shot to be found, a surprise to discover, and that fun and curiosity was always in whatever he came back with," said Godbout. "Even his hard news crime and fire pictures were more inquisitive than they were intrusive.
"In the newsroom, his jokes and his laughter were a constant reminder what a great job it is to talk to people and tell the stories of the community."
Dave loved to socialize and was a regular customer at JJ's, a pub across from CN Centre, where he spent many an evening sipping cold suds with his friends.
Dave was big into mountain biking and skiing, both cross-country and downhill, and he loved going fast. It was impossible to try to keep up to him on his bike when he had his front wheel aimed downwards. Riding the chutes at Pidherny, he was fearless, rarely touching his brakes even on the most terrifying sections of trail. I'll always remember the day we decided to ride the Love Trail overlooking the Fraser River when he was getting used to clipless pedals. The cleats on his shoes clamped him hard to the pedals and when the trail got too steep to climb, he tried to bail and jump off his bike but the cleats would not release and down he went, falling hard into the bushes. Eventually, after two or three more painful falls, he got it figured out.
Dave loved to play golf and three years ago at Alder Hills he realized the dream of all golfers, finding the cup with his drive. He couldn't have been happier with his hole-in-one on the par 3 No. 16. It turned out he was the first golfer ever to ace that hole, but Dave took it all in stride, never one to gloat about his achievements.
His dad introduced him to fishing at an early age and that became one of Dave's passions. His knowledge of the region gained from having worked several years as a forester gave him insight into some of the best fishing holes on the Bowron, Nechako and Fraser rivers and he came home with some whoppers to feed the family. He loved working in the woods but wasn't always too keen on some of the company he found lurking in the forest.
"He worked in forestry for quite a few years but the bears changed his mind, he had so many close calls with bears he decided to shoot with his camera," said Dave's mom Esther. "He was lucky when he got to work for the newspaper."
Dave had a sister, Colleen, who was five years younger, and even as a small kid, he was the ultimate protector. Often, while his parents were busy running the dry cleaners, he was at home looking after her. His dad, whose family operated restaurants in Ponoka, Alta., taught Dave how to cook and he became a perfectionist in the kitchen. Everything had to be done just right. He wanted his family to like his edible creations, and most often succeeded.
Dave attended school close to his home at Connaught elementary (now known as Ron Brent elementary), Connaught junior secondary and Prince George secondary, where he was part of the 1979 graduating class. He went on to earn a forestry diploma at the College of New Caledonia and worked in the industry until he joined the staff at Prince George This Week in 1990. He was at the weekly for 16 years until it was shut down in 2006. He joined the Citizen that year and worked mostly as a weekend photographer until May 2015.
Citizen news editor/sports editor Jason Peters met Dave in 1999 when he joined the staff at Prince George This Week and also worked with Dave covering sports events with the Citizen. His easy-going, giving nature never failed to brighten the day for Peters.
"Dave was an extremely talented photographer but he didn’t rely on talent alone," said Peters. "He took a great deal of pride in his work so he always went the extra mile to make sure he got the best shot possible.
"Dave made so many friends during his time at P.G. This Week and The Citizen because he was always smiling and happy. He had a gift for making people feel at ease, even those who weren’t comfortable being in front of his camera. Everybody in Prince George seemed to know Dave and if you knew him, you couldn’t help but like him. With Dave’s passing, we have lost a wonderful and caring human being."
Citizen community reporter Christine Hinzmann worked with Dave for six years at Prince George This Week and it was unusual for them to go out on an assignment together without running into someone who considered Dave a friend.
"Losing Dave to cancer Saturday was a huge loss to this community. Not only was he a great friend to so very many but a brilliant award-winning photographer who has recorded the history of our city in a way only he could," said Hinzmann.
"Dave not only loved nature and grasped its unique essence in his pictures but his love of the people he captured through the lens was inspired. He always made everyone photogenic. And while we're all thinking 'Oh, how I hate having my picture taken!' Dave somehow always made it OK because his true nature came out – he always put everyone in their best light because he was a kind and giving soul, and that always came through."
Dave arrived in Prince George in 1966 at age 5 when his parents moved to the city from Red Deer, Alta., to take over as owners of Toppers Cleaners, a downtown Prince George dry cleaning business, which they operated until 1991. Like most family businesses, everybody helped out, and that was Dave's first job. Until they bought their house on Connaught Drive in 1973 they lived on the upper floor of the dry cleaners on Fifth Avenue.
"He was always happy, he always had that smile, ever since he was little," said Esther Mah. "He was a real easy kid to take care of, in fact, I didn't have one labour pain with him.
"He was just a joy to have around the house. He had a very close, respectful rapport with his father. He was a very honest person and he promoted happiness with his pictures."
Whether it was a friend in need or a total stranger who needed a hand, Dave was always willing to help, and his neighbours knew they could count on him. He took over the house after his parents moved to Calgary in 2000 and kept a vigilant lookout for some of the colourful characters his inner-city neighbourhood sometimes attracted while they made their way up the trails to Connaught Hill Park. On more than one occasion, Dave found people camping in his back yard.
Next-door neighbour Elissa Meiklem, in a Facebook tribute to Dave, wrote:
"Today we lost the wonderful man, David Mah. The loss will be felt by a huge number of people in town. Even if you weren't formal friends you knew David, he was there documenting the major and mundane triumphs and tragedies of our little city as a long time photographer at The Citizen. He was my neighbour, always ready with a smile and a chat, we would share a beer and steamed bun and talk about our city. He was always true and genuine, never cruel or dismissive. He faced his illness with honesty and bravery until the end."
A funeral service will be held in Calgary on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Hillhurst United Church, 1227 Kensington Close NW. Dave was predeceased by his sister Colleen, who died of diabetes in 2007 at age 41. His ashes will be buried with Colleen's at a family plot in Ponoka.
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/local-news/citizen-photographer-wins-gold-silver-1.1004729
