Good friends are hard to come by; endearing friends even harder. Victor was one of my greatest endearing friends and his sudden passing today leaves me in a state of total loss.

I greatly admired Victor for all of his photographic journeys and adventurous exploits but what made him such a great friend was his gentleness and kindness. It is easy for great people like Victor to get self-absorbed in their own lives and accomplishments but Victor was not like that. He always showed a concern for and interest in others.

Victor packed more into life than any mortal being possibly could and thankfully he had such a wonderful gift so he could share his life through words and photos. As a result his legacy is ageless.

Above all, Victor was a wonderful husband and father and I send my heartfelt condolences to Marta, Barbara, Eric, Jean-Pierre and Philippe. Your husband and father was one of the greatest men I ever knew and I fell blessed that I had the privilege of being his friend.

Victor pre-dated selfies and as a result there aren’t many recent photos of him … or rather those that he liked. But he did like one that I took of him in 2005 and asked if he could use it as his Facebook profile photo. He wrote to me about it in 2006:

‘The picture you took of me with Martha is the most flattering I have seen of myself in many, many years. So much so that I now always avoid being photographed if I can. Though I always make an effort to smile, that smile always registers as a grim stare. I would appreciate if you would send me a copy, though there is no rush. If other people keep showing me like a dejected ugly old man, this might be the last picture I may leave behind to be remembered by.’

There is not a camera nor photographer in the world who could possibly show beautiful Victor as a ‘dejected ugly old man’. But this is the way we all think as the youth evaporates from us. Victor took my original photo and cropped it tightly and used it as his Facebook profile for many years. We need to see the entire photo however to realise why Victor looks so flattering and happy in the photo – his beloved Marta is at his side. I am confident that as long as Marta was at his side, Victor would be glowing in any photo of himself