Veteran Jamaican photojournalist Bryan Cummings has died. The 56-year-old succumbed to cancer on Friday night.

His

death ended a long and distinguished career in journalism, during which he did

a stint at the Jamaica Information Service before joining the staff at the

Jamaica Observer in 1994, approximately a year after the newspaper’s first

publication.

During

his stay at the Jamaica Observer, Cummings carried various Olympic Games into

the homes of Jamaicans through his lenses, which captured the happening of the

island’s contingent at the quadrennial event.

He

was also a regular at the biennial World Championships and was also a fixture

at the annual Boys’ and Girls’ Championships, Jamaica’s top athletic calendar

event, which features athletes from the island’s secondary schools.

Jamaica Observer’s executive editor, publications, Vernon Davidson said in a tribute to Cummings in the newspaper: “Bryan was easily one of the best photographers to have worked in print media in Jamaica.

“While he distinguished himself as a sports photographer, he also provided our readers with excellent coverage of Jamaican life in the areas of news and human interest photography, which not only added vibrancy to the newspaper’s pages but also earned him many accolades at the annual National Journalism Awards staged by the Press Association of Jamaica,” Davidson was quoted as saying.

Cummings was born in Guyana but went to high school in Jamaica, where he attended Munro College in St Elizabeth. He also participated in track and field for the school while he was a student there.

Cummings died leaving sons, Adam and Nicholas, who both followed him in the photography profession.